Gravity
by DE92
Summary: Sequel to Cannonball - Finally free from the clutches of Mystic Falls and their rivaling families, Damon and Elena are home free. Their love and loyalty to each other is stronger than ever, however they will soon learn that being on the run isn't all that easy. DE.
1. Prologue

**Gravity**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries!**

**Yikes! So here it is, the prologue of the sequel to Cannonball! This is set about six weeks after the last chapter of CB. If you haven't read that fic already, I suggest you go back and do so or this won't really make a lot of sense! **

**I hope this was worth the wait and a big special shout out to Mara_A_Miller for not only being my beta (again) but for helping me come up with the name! I know I drove her crazy because I could never decide!**

**Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I hope you enjoy the prologue! **

* * *

**May 31st 2013**

**Friday 10:15am**

**Winnfield, Louisiana**

I shift my sunglasses briefly and tilt my head to eye up Damon from the corner of my eye. He's standing at the counter, leaning over it as far as possible as he twirls a piece of the blonde shop assistants hair around in his finger. I scoff when I hear the girl giggle, so loud it echoes around the room. I turn my back to them and continue walking along the aisle, one eye on the lookout while the other eyes the items in front of me.

I discreetly pull my backpack in front of me before shoving a handful of chocolate bars inside. I keep walking further away from the counter before making a turn towards the fridges. I look to my left and then to my right before grabbing two bottles of water and some soda, dropping them into my open bag. I walk slowly back towards Damon, subtly shoving more items into my bag on the way.

I roll my eyes when I hear that annoying giggle again and grab a large bag of chips before finally approaching him.

"Are we going or what?" I slam the bag of chips down onto the counter in annoyance. I feel impatient as I look between the two of them, the girl straightening up and her smile fading as she looks at me.

Damon turns to face me with a smirk. "Sure. This all you want?" he questions casually as he moves the bag across the counter.

"Yep." I reply in a bored tone. "I'll go wait in the car."

I hear Damon chuckle to himself behind me just in time to hear the annoying blonde ask if I'm his girlfriend. Damon replies with a swift no and I roll my eyes when I hear him spin a lie about me being his brother's girl.

Yeah, _right_.

I squint under the blistering sun as I walk back to the truck. I pull the door open then glance back towards the store to see the girl waving flirtatiously at Damon as he leaves.

I watch as he puts his sunglasses back on to cover his eyes from the heavy sun. He climbs back into the truck and throws the bag of chips onto my lap.

"What took you so long?" I raise my eyebrows and he chuckles.

"She was a chatty one."

"Yeah, you seemed to be enjoying it, _Luke_." I tell him pointedly, referring to the fake name I heard him use when he introduced himself flirtatiously.

Damon laughs as he starts the engine. "I was just being in character!" he defends himself amused and I roll my eyes trying to hide my smile. "Well? What did you get?"

"Here," I pass him his bottle of water while it's still chilled. "I got us some chocolate, sandwiches, soda and a couple of tins of soup."

"Soup?" he frowns. "How the hell are we supposed to eat that?"

"We can heat it up in the microwave of whatever motel we end up in tonight," I defend myself immediately but freeze when I see the grimace on his face. "No Damon!" I scold him quickly because I know exactly where this conversation is going. "You promised!"

"I know baby, I know, but we need to save our money." He reasons attentively. "What's one more night?"

"What's one more night?" I practically shriek in reply. "Damon, we've slept in this damn truck for the last three nights! I haven't showered in _four_ days! I feel dirty and I stink."

Damon scoffs. "That's not true, you smell beautiful." He tilts his head and smiles sweetly at me.

"_Damon_," I groan in annoyance.

"_Elena_?"

"Urgh!" I whine loudly and shuffle in my seat. "You are so annoying!"

"I know," he smirks, his hand reaching out to pat my thigh, "but you know I'm right."

I huff and t urn away because I know it's true. The money that we took away with us plus the eight hundred dollars from selling Klaus' car was starting to run thin fast. I didn't realize how expensive gas was until now. So we have resorted to trying to save money as much as we can, by spending nights sleeping in the truck and stealing food from gas stations and convenience stores.

If someone told me six weeks ago that I'd become a pro in petty thieving, I'd have laughed out loud and told them that they're crazy. Yet here I am, six weeks into being on the run and I think if it would be acceptable to add theft to my resume I would that I'm the best at it. In fact, being a better shoplifter than Damon is something that I surprisingly like to brag about, much to his dismay.

Damon almost got us caught once about two weeks ago. We were in a store somewhere in western Alabama and one of the shop assistants caught him mid-way of slipping a bottle of shaving foam into his bag. They threatened to call the cops unless he handed that the rest of the contents over, but Damon being Damon wouldn't just walk away and instead we found ourselves running out of the store, Damon punching a security guard on the way. In the end, we had to pay some back lane dealer that Damon found (I didn't want to know how) to get us a fake registration plate to replace the one on the truck until we made it out of the state.

To say I gave him a hard time about it would be an understatement.

"Okay fine." I reluctantly give in and blow some air up onto my face as the sun starts to get hotter. "We'll sleep in this damn heap of metal for one more night."

"I knew you'd understand," he grins while grabbing a hold of my hand and sliding his fingers through my own. "We'll stay in a motel tomorrow, I promise."

I nod my head and mumble an agreement before lifting our joint hands to my lips and kissing his knuckles softly.

I know that he is only making these decisions to benefit us, and I can't be mad at him for that.

"I love you." I press another kiss to his hand, turning to smile when he faces me with a grin.

"I love you too." He squeezes my hand before turning his head back towards the open road ahead of us.

* * *

I walk out of the liquor store with a six pack of beer in my hands. I slide my fake ID back into my wallet and watch from a distance as Elena sits on a park bench across the street reading what looks like a local newspaper.

I figured since we are planning on sleeping in the truck tonight I may as well make things a little more interesting for her. I gathered up some loose change and bought us some beer and asked the shop assistant where the nearest secluded lake is around here. We've done it a few times over the past few weeks while we've been on the road; camping out under the stars with nothing more than a blanket and each other, the humid summer nights making sure we don't freeze.

I climb into the back of the truck and place the beer into the cooler ice box that I picked up a couple of weeks ago after the first night they did this, because it tastes like devil's ass when it's warm. I jump down and glance back at Elena who still looks pretty engrossed in what she is reading. I decide to take the opportunity of her being distracted to do something that has been on my mind since the moment we left Mystic Falls.

I walk along down the street and round the corner, looking around discreetly and pulling my cap back onto my head. I approach a pay phone I spotted earlier and pull off my sunglasses, sliding the coins into the slot and dialing the number that I know by heart.

"Come on, come on." I mutter impatiently as the call continues to ring. I turn away from the traffic on the road behind me, shielding the view with my back.

"Hello?" the gruff sound of an English accent picks up and I smile. It's been so long. I clutch the pone tightly in my hand and clear my throat.

"Klaus," I close my eyes for a brief moment at the familiarity.

"Damon?" My friend sounds surprised to hear from me and I don't blame him. It's been six long weeks with absolutely zero contact.

"Yeah, it's me. Look I don't have long but uh…I just…I need to know what's going on." I admit nervously. Sometimes the thought of everyone thinking I'm a murderer keeps me up at night and it's not something that I want to have to get used to live with.

"How are you? How's Elena?" Klaus asks quickly, completely ignoring the question. "Where are you?"

"I'm good." Considering the circumstances, it's the truth. "Elena is good too. We're uh…we're in Louisiana right now."

Klaus chuckles and it feels good to hear it. "What on earth is in Louisiana?" he asks bemused.

"Nothing." I admit with a small laugh of my own. "But it's not Mystic Falls."

"It's not Mystic Falls." Klaus repeats calmly.

"Klaus," I look around again quickly with my eyes, making sure that I'm alone, always on the lookout. "I need you to tell me what's going on."

The line stills for a moment. "Damon…"

"Please. Just tell me."

"Grayson is trying to you kidnapped Elena." Klaus states quietly and I freeze.

"What?" My jaw drops and my heart rate starts to speed up.

"Elena is still under eighteen, you're not." Klaus replies hesitantly. "I think he wants people to believe that she isn't with you by choice."

"That's…that's twenty years." I breathe out in shock. Surely Grayson isn't that delusional?

"I know."

"Fuck." I run a hand down my face. "People don't really believe that do they?"

"No." Klaus replies immediately. "No not at all. Mystic Falls may be full of small minded idiots but they're not completely stupid. Apart from Grayson I think most people realize it was Elena's choice to leave with you. He's trying to push that charge on you, but from what Stefan tells me no one is taking it seriously and he can't actually try and convict you for it."

"Okay." I nod slowly and let out a shaky breath because now comes the real problem, "and Vaughn?" I ask quietly.

Again Klaus stills for a moment and I wait anxiously for him to reply. "Nothing's changed." I cringe and look down at my worn shoes. "The cops still think you did it, and you running away hasn't exactly helped them believe otherwise."

"I know." I grunt with a grimace, "but did I have a choice? If I stayed, I'd be in jail right now facing God knows how many years in prison."

"I know, Damon. I would have done the same thing. I don't really know what's going on with the case. Grayson and the Sheriff are trying to keep your family in the dark as much as possible. I only know what Stefan shares with me."

"How is Stefan?" I ask curiously, a pit landing in my stomach at the thought of my baby brother.

"He's fine. I mean…he misses you and he wants you to come home but he knows that you can't." the phone line starts to beep and I cringe.

"Klaus I've got to go. I don't know when I'll be able to call you again."

"Damon wait! One more thing," he rushes out quickly. "There's a guy I know who lives in Austin, Texas. He's an old friend of mine who used to date Rebekah, our families used to vacation together. His name is Marcel, find him and tell him you're a friend of mine. You can trust him, he'll hook you up and-"

The line cuts off before Klaus can finish his sentence. I curse and slam the phone down in frustration. I lift the cap off from my head, the scorching hot heat is making my hair stick to my forehead and I push it away in frustration.

I sigh and slam my hand against the old rusty metal of the phone box before I make my way back towards the truck. How the hell will I be able to find one man in a city as big as Austin? Then again, with a name like Marcel maybe it won't be that difficult.

I find Elena exactly where I left her. She looks beautiful and all of the frustration disappears as I approach her and she looks up at me with a smile.

"Hey, what took you so long?" she drops the newspaper and pushes herself up to her feet.

"Sorry, the old guy at the cash register had a lot to say." The lie accidentally leaves my mouth. It's not like I want to purposely hide my contact with Klaus from Elena, but I know that she'll only just worry if she finds out. Lately, Mystic Falls and everyone in it has become a sort of taboo subject between us. It's best when we aren't reminded of it because it's easier that way. "Come on, I got us some beer and I want to take you somewhere."

"Oh yeah?" Elena tilts her head at me curiously; a sweet smile on her face a she slides her hand into mine as we walk back towards the truck. "Where?"

"You'll see."

* * *

I giggle happily as Damon playfully bites my neck and try to squirm away but he keeps me wrapped up tightly in his arms holding me still. I sigh contently and lightly kick my feet in the water of the lake that we are sitting at. The stars are reflecting into the dark water making it look beautiful, and the only sound that can heard is the one of nature. It is so peaceful and quiet out here.

I love it when we can find a place like this away from the real world, a place we can press pause on our life for one night where we can relax and not have to constantly look over our shoulder overtook with paranoia in case someone recognizes us.

"Stop!" I squeal when Damon blows a raspberry against my neck from his place sitting behind me. His longer legs stretch to the side of my own as they float in the water beside mine. He tightens his hold around me again and I close my eyes, leaning back to rest my head against his shoulder.

I sigh again and play with his fingers that are resting on my stomach. "I like it here."

"Me too," he murmurs softly into my ear before pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. "I bet you're glad we didn't stay in a crappy motel now, huh?"

I hold in a witty comeback. "Okay fine," I give in with a reluctant smile. "I admit that this is so much better."

"I told you," he squeezes my hip and removes one of his arms to pick up his beer and takes a long sip. I follow his lead and do the same, the cold liquid refreshingly sliding down my throat.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" I tilt my head to look at him over my shoulder with a smile, his arms coming back around to hold me against him. There's something so exciting about not having a plan, just getting in the truck and driving with no real destination. Sometimes I like to pretend that we are just having the summer of our lives, that we are here by choice and that this is all just one big adventure.

It's easier that way.

"Let's go west," Damon muses with a smile, a look in his eyes as he gazes out towards the water. "See where the road takes us."

"I like the sound of that." I agree and turn my head to press a slow soft kiss against his lips. I pull away slowly and lean my forehead against his, my hand caressing his cheek softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiles back with his eyes closed.

"You know," I turn back around and splash some of the water at my feet, watching as the rings travel across the lake. "I could really get used to this. You and me, on the road. I know these things aren't supposed to last forever, but I do know that we can survive."

"We always survive." He confirms my original sentence, repeating the same three words that I said to him so confidently all those weeks ago when we first started this journey. They still hold as much truth as they did back then. I still believe it. I still believe in us.

Being on the run isn't easy. It's far from it. It's tough, intense and we're always looking over our shoulders, never being able to fully trust anyone we meet, not that we'd have the time too anyway.

We never stay in the same place for too long.

There have been times in old grimy motel rooms when Damon and I have argued like never before. Times when I even went as far as packing a bag with the intention of leaving to go back to Mystic Falls. Damon even offering to give me a ride to the train station himself.

But I never ever even opened the front door, and Damon never ever even picked up his keys.

We go through good days and bad days, some days we can't keep our hands off each other and others we can barely stand being in the confines of the same truck. There are other days, like today, when we feel completely relaxed and happy, but with those days also comes the other days of fear. The fear of being caught, fear of all of this being for nothing.

But no matter what happens, we both know the one truth that is keeping us going, something that comes from love and trust and will stand to the end no matter what.

We are in this together.

* * *

**Well? Please review and let me know what you thought! I'm actually really nervous about this one so I hope you all liked it :)**

**Thanks for reading! **

**Until next time :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Gravity**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries**

**WOW wow wow! You guy gave me over 50 reviews for the prologue, that is amazing! Thank you so so so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the first chapter, so I hope you like this one just as much!**

**Thanks again to Mara for being my beta :) **

* * *

**June 1st 2013**

**Saturday 6:30pm**

**Austin, Texas**

"Hmm, it seems a little pricey in here."

I see Elena frown from the corner of my eye as she looks through the menu of the bar that we have found ourselves in.

It was a long drive to Austin from Winnfield. I made sure that we only stopped a couple of times so that we would get here at a reasonable hour. I want to be able to start this search for Marcel tonight, but first I need to break the news to Elena that I have been in contact with Klaus.

"Don't worry about it, baby," I reply with an easy smile, stretching my arm to rest my hand on her shoulder across the back of the booth. "Order whatever you want," I press a kiss to her cheek.

Elena scrunches her eyebrows together suspiciously. "What happened to saving money? Last night you wouldn't fork out the cash for a warm bed to sleep in, but now you're willing to pay premium prices for dinner when there's a KFC across the street?"

"Hey, I thought you enjoyed our night under the stars?" I reply with a pout, her doe brown eyes looking straight back at me.

"I did," she throws back, "but that doesn't excuse your change in attitude."

"Don't question it then. Besides, you know I hate KFC." I smirk while moving my finger down onto the menu that is still held out in front of her. "Why don't you get the steak? It looks tasty."

I watch predictably as Elena's eyes light up at the picture of the meal at the side of the description on the menu and I can practically see her mouth watering.

"The steak does look good," she admits with her lips parted. "I haven't had steak in a long time."

"So? Order the steak." I encourage her. "You know you want to." I sing song with a smile.

"Fine!" she gives in with a grin, closing the menu and slamming it on the table. "I'll order the damn steak."

The food tasted just as good as it looked and by the end of it I was completely stuffed. There was no room for dessert, not that we could really afford it anyway.

I reach down and take Elena's hand in mine as we walk out into the crowded street. It seemed that we have managed to find ourselves in the busy part of the city and I know it's not an ideal place to start this conversation. However the night is starting to take off and I don't want to waste any more time.

"So…" I squeeze her hand tightly and will myself to continue. "I need to tell you something."

"I knew it!" Elena looks almost smug at my confession. "I knew you were up to something, Salvatore." She tells me pointedly and I'm reminded that she knows me more than I know myself sometimes.

I sigh and give in; pulling her into an alleyway between two buildings so we have a tiny bit more privacy. "There's a reason I brought us here to Austin."

Elena frowns confused and looks up at me puzzled. "Why? What's in Austin?"

I cringe and use my spare hand to run it through my hair. "Okay…so don't get mad."

"Don't get mad?" Elena asks with an eyebrow raised. "Normally when you start off a sentence with '_don't get mad_' I usually _do_ end up getting mad."

"Okay…" I muse aloud. "That's a good point."

Elena rolls her eyes impatiently and she can tell that I'm stalling. "Just spit it out, Damon."

"I spoke to Klaus yesterday," I confess with a hesitant smile. I watch as Elena's jaw drops and her eyes widen.

"What do you mean you spoke to Klaus?" she repeats slowly, the shock evident in her voice.

"I mean I called him yesterday from a pay phone."

"But…" she trails and looks lost for a moment, and I feel a guilty pit rise in my stomach. "We said that we wouldn't have any contact with anyone from Mystic Falls. We agreed."

"I know we did, baby," I cringe at the sound of hurt in her voice, "but I just needed to know what was going on with Vaughn…"

Elena turns away from me and my heart sinks. This is exactly why Mystic Falls is a taboo subject between us. If Elena thinks about home, she thinks about her family and friends and that just hurts her too much. I know that she misses them. I miss my own family too.

"Elena," I tug on her hand gently to pull her back towards me. "I'm sorry."

She clears her throat and looks back up at me. "Was there any news?"

"No." I tell her disappointed. "The cops still think I did it." I add glumly.

"Okay." She nods before shifting some hair from her neck. "So why are we in Austin?"

"Klaus said he has a friend here. His name is Marcel. He thinks we can help us out. The line cut off before he could tell me where to find him so all I know is that he lives here in Austin."

"You mean to tell me that we need to find some random guy called Marcel who we have never met before?" she gapes at me incredulity. "We don't know what he looks like or where in this city full of thousands of people to find him?"

I cringe because it does sound ridiculous. "That's pretty much it, yeah."

"Great." She mutters sarcastically before running her hand down her face, blowing out some air between her lips to cool her down from the humid evening weather. "Well then, we best get started shouldn't we?"

"So…you're not mad?" I ask hopefully.

"No, Damon," She smiles at me and moves on to her tip toes to wrap her arms around my neck. "I'm not mad. I understand why you wanted to know, I did too. I just wish you didn't feel like you couldn't tell me about it first. It's hard to think about home without missing it, but you said yourself that it's too dangerous to keep in contact with anyone from Mystic Falls. I don't want to lose you, Damon. I can't imagine being without you and the thought of you being locked up somewhere with people who…" she trails off once her voice starts to crack and I see her eyes watering. The possibility of prison is always resting in the back of mind. I'm on the run, how could it not be? Elena however refuses to think about what might happen to me if we do end up getting caught.

"Which is why I didn't call Klaus back after the line cut off." I dip my head down to press a slow soft kiss to her lips. "I'm sorry. You're not going to lose me, not if I can help it."

"Good." She kisses me again, "because I don't know who'd buy me dinner if you weren't around." She smirks and I laugh, pleased to know that she's not too upset. She giggles and I look at her curiously. "Maybe I could ask Marcel?" she questions teasingly, her voice light and playful. I pinch at her waist and tickle her.

"You'll need to find him first, sweetheart!"

* * *

"Gross." I shudder as I step out of the old grimy shower in a motel we found a few miles out of the city a couple of days ago. I hate staying in these places because, they are dirty, old, and the air conditioner never works. However, I know that we don't exactly have a choice, and I much preferred to sleep in a bed at night than the old seats of our truck.

I walk out of the bathroom and spot Damon immediately; he's sitting on the edge of the double bed with his eyes focussed on the TV as he slips through channels quickly.

"You know, a thought came to me while I was in the shower." I say while picking up a spare towel to dry my hair.

"Oh yeah?" Damon turns to face me, a devils smirk landing on his lips when he eyes me up and down slowly.

"Not that kind of thought, _ass_." I teasingly glare at him and make a point to pull down my towel to show a little more cleavage. Something which Damon is clearly enjoying judging from the look on his face.

"You know, it's going to be hard for you to hold a conversation with me while you're just wearing a towel."

"It's hard for me to hold a conversation with you _anyway_." I smirk; glad to have the upper hand for once.

"Shut up." He grabs me before I can even blink and before I know it I've been swung around onto the bed and Damon is climbing on top of me with that same smirk on his lips.

"Stealthy," I admire breathlessly once I finally compose myself. My towel has been tugged down from the movement, showing off half of my breasts.

"Damn right," he kisses me slow and deep, one of his hands sliding up my bare freshly shaved legs while the other holds himself up above me.

"You…" kiss, "never…" kiss "listened to…" kiss "my thought." I finally finish as Damon moves his attention to my neck.

"I _thought_ we were acting it out instead?" he murmurs against my neck, his hot breath tickling my skin.

"No." I squirm underneath him and Damon reluctantly gives in, rolling onto his side. "You said Rebekah used to date this Marcel guy, right?" I question and he nods silently. "Well, I can't imagine him being much older than her. So instead of asking around in bars like we've been doing all weekend with no luck, why don't we try somewhere more suitable for people who are actually our age?"

"Like a high school." Damon finishes for me, his eyes lighting up and I nod. "Ah, Elena Gilbert," he rolls back on top of me with a heavy grin. "You are hot _and_ smart!"

"I told you I was a keeper." I grin and wrap my hands around his neck to crash his lips against mine.

* * *

I take a sip from my bottle of water as I look around the parking lot under the protection of my sunglasses. Its twelve noon, so if this place is anything like Mystic Falls High then lunch should be starting any second now.

This is the fifth school that we've been to over the last day and a half since Elena suggested we start looking for Marcel in high schools. So far we haven't had any luck, but some kid in the last school we went to said he might know someone who knows someone called Marcel who goes here. It sounded like bullshit to me, especially since he couldn't take his eyes off Elena and used any opportunity he could to keep talking to her.

"I hope this is the place." Elena jumps out of the truck and I pull off my sunglasses and slide them into my back pocket. She glances down at her watch and looks around confused. "When do you think lunch starts?"

"Soon hopefully." I reply shortly, a frown covering my features. It's so damn hot today, and I barely got any sleep last night because the air con doesn't work in our motel room. I tried to distract Elena and wake her up so she'd at least keep me awake for a good reason, but instead she pressed a sloppy kiss to my lips and pushed my face away with her hand before falling straight back into a slumber.

I swear that girl could sleep through a freaking tsunami.

"I'm sick of us being on this damn wild goose trip. We don't even know this guy; he could be a total ass and no use to us at all." I grumble in annoyance.

"You said Klaus told you we could trust him?"

"Klaus also said that the New York Nets are better than the Knicks, but that doesn't make it true."

"Oh come on, grouchy," she smiles and wraps her arms around me from behind. "It's not like we have a lot of choices here." She presses a kiss between my shoulder blades. "What else would we be doing?"

"Well," I turn around in her arms and raise my eyebrow suggestively. "I can think of a few things."

Elena grins and pulls me down to press a slow kiss to my lips. "I bet you could." She presses another quick kiss to my lips, "but playtime is going to have to be later." She glances over my shoulder before pulling away from me and I turn my head just in time so see a kid with his hood up walking our way.

Elena raises her eyebrows at me before turning to face him as he gets closer.

"Excuse me, do you happen to know if-" She is cut off as the guy just barges straight past her without even so much as an acknowledgement.

Unfortunately for him, he has picked the wrong day to be rude to my girl.

"Hey!" I take two big strides after him and grab his arm and swing him around to face me. "What the hell is wrong with you man? She was talking to you!"

The boy looks startled and winces as I grip his arm tightly and I watch as he uses his spare hand to pull out some headphones.

"Look man, I don't want any trouble." His eyes dart fearfully between me and Elena and I roll my eyes.

"Shut up," I scoff in disbelief. "We're looking for a guy called Marcel, do you know him? Yes or no?" I ask impatiently.

"Marcel?" his eyes widen in recognition. "Uh yeah. I mean, I know _of_ him."

"So he goes here?" Elena asks eagerly and the guy slowly nods his head before glancing at the iron tight grip I still have on his arm. "Damon," she sighs. "Let go, you're hurting him."

I roll my eyes and reluctantly do so, the kid squirming out of my way immediately as he takes a small step back, his other hand rubbing his arm where I was holding it painfully.

"Go and get him for us, tell him that Klaus' friend is here and we need to speak to him now."

The kid's eyes widen. "I can't…I can't just walk up to him."

"Why the hell not?"

"It's Marcel Gerard. He's the most popular guy in the whole school. He's a senior, I'm just a sophomore. He won't let me just go up and speak to him."

I roll my eyes for what feel like the billionth time and glance at Elena in disbelief. She just shrugs in reply and I sigh. "Listen kid, this is not a request. I don't care about your high school drama. Go back inside, find Marcel and tell him that he needs to come out here _now_." I glare at him threateningly.

He looks wary for a moment before slowly nodding his head and he goes to walk around me but I reach out and grab his arm, swinging him around before slamming him against the truck. He winces loudly, his eyes wide with fear as I shove my hand into his coat pocket.

"Damon!" Elena hisses at me disapprovingly but I ignore her.

"There we go," I grin as I pull out his cell phone before dropping him out of my grasp. "Call this an insurance policy." I slide the expensive iPhone into my pocket. "Just in case you decided you weren't going to come back." I send him a mocking smile and he gulps, because clearly that was his intention.

I shove him away and he darts off quickly, looking back just once over his shoulder before he speeds back towards the school. I slap my hands together and turn to look at Elena who is sending me a stern look.

"What?" I ask innocently.

"Did you have to be so rough with him? He was just a kid and you scared him half to death."

I shrug easily. "It worked didn't it?"

She tries to fight off her smile. "I suppose so." She swats my shoulder with her hand before leaving it to rest there and looking up at me nervously. "What are we going to say? I mean…does he know that…" she trails off unsure so I finish the sentence for her.

"That I'm on the run for murder?" I raise an eyebrow and she frowns.

"Well…yeah." She huffs slightly because she doesn't like to be reminded of that fact.

"I'm sure Klaus will have informed him on all he needs to know." I push some fallen hair out of her face.

"And if he hasn't?"

"Well then we obviously don't tell him." I tell her steadily. "It's not exactly something I want to shout from the rooftops."

"He's going to ask questions." She points out unsurely and I don't like the look of fear in her eyes.

"Uh huh," I grab her waist and yank her towards me, pressing my lips against hers quickly before landing a sloppy kiss to her cheek. She giggles and squirms in my arms as I teasingly attempt to press a billion kisses around her face. "Questions that we don't have to answer so stop worrying." I kiss her again on the lips and she happily returns it, her hands sliding up my sides to wrap around my neck.

"I'm good at worrying though," she murmurs against my lips before kissing me again, her tongue lightly brushing against mine teasingly.

"Uh huh," I mumble into her mouth before tilting my head back slightly, "but you're an even better kisser." I smirk when she giggles and kisses me again.

"Smooth."

"I hope I'm not too late to watch the show!" A loud, unfamiliar voice bellows out, interrupting us. I pull away from Elena in annoyance.

When I turn around I see a tall built man walking towards, who sure as hell looks a lot older than eighteen although as he gets closer I see the youth in his eyes hidden underneath his Cheshire cat like smirk.

The kid from earlier is following him half a step behind, a wary and nervous look on his face.

"Marcel." I state simply because the cockiness that he is carrying is almost a replica to Klaus back when I first met him all those years ago.

"That's me," he comes to a stop a couple of feet in front of us, his hand reaching out behind him to grab the kid by the back of the neck and pulling him forward. "Now I believe you have something that belongs to this friend of mine?" he raises his eyebrow and the kid squirms uncomfortably in his grasp.

I roll my eyes and bring back out the cell phone from my pocket before handing it over to Marcel's waiting hand.

"This it?" Marcel asks and the boy nods silently. "Good. Now scram." He hands over the phone and orders the boy away with a hint of authority in his voice.

I eye him up curiously, because he is definitely not what I expected. There is something about him that I am immediately unsure about.

"So," he clasps his hands together, that smirk back on his face as he looks between us both. "A moody dark haired chap with a doe eyed _beautiful_ brunette companion. You must be Damon and Elena."

"So you spoke to Klaus?" I ignore his theatrics.

"He called me, yes." Marcel replies easily. "I was expecting to hear from you sooner."

"Well it's a big city. You were hard to find." I state somewhat coldly. "So? Get on with it, we don't have all day."

Marcel twists half of his lip up in a half smile before looking at Elena who still hasn't said a word. "Is he always this polite?"

I look at Elena who glances at me before shrugging silently and this only makes Marcel's smile widen.

"Fine," he throws his hands in the air for a moment before looking back over his shoulder and digging his hand into his pocket. He glances around again before pulling out a handful of small see-through packets filled with white powder.

I tense in surprise because this was something I was not expecting and I don't miss the way Elena's eyes widen.

"Normally I take forty percent of the cut, but since this a favor to Klaus I'll make it ten." He offers with a shrug as he holds the sachets of drugs out in the palm of his hand in front of me.

Elena shakes her head. "This is not…I mean…we're not-"

"It's a deal." I cut Elena off and take the small packets from him immediately, his smirk widening when I do so.

"_Damon_!" Elena hisses at me through gritted teeth.

"Deadline?" I ask Marcel, completely ignoring Elena who is fuming beside me.

Marcel looks between us both amused before answering. "Saturday. I'll text you some addresses of some guys I know to sell to. Do you have a phone?"

I nod and pull out an old second hand prepaid phone that I bought the second day we arrived here in Austin. It's a rule Elena and I have made over the weeks, a new state equals a new phone. It's not like we use it, it's just in a case of emergencies if we somehow lose each other or something happens. Well, and now for times like these.

Marcel dials his number into my phone before jotting down my own. Throughout the exchange Elena is stood silently beside me, her arms crossed and her jaw locked tightly.

She is _pissed_.

Marcel leaves and the second he does Elena turns away from me and storms back towards the truck, climbing inside and slamming the door behind her hard when she does so.

I sigh and roll my eyes before following her, jumping in and I'm not surprised when she turns the radio on the second I switch on the engine.

"Look, I get why you're mad at me, but it's not like we are easy on the money lately." I offer an explanation but Elena ignores me and turns up the volume of whatever lame ass pop station she had synced in weeks ago much to my protests.

"Elena," I say her name loudly but she just turns away to look out of the window, a thunderous look on her face and I know that I'm in trouble.

I don't get why she's so mad. She knows that I've done this kind of stuff before and she never had a problem with it before. We're on the run, we can't just go out and get a normal job without showing some form of identification which we don't have. She knew we'd have to do some less than legal things, hell she has done some herself, so what's the big deal?

As long as we don't get caught, which we won't, so everything will be fine.

The drive back to the motel is tense and Elena continues to ignore me. I gave up trying to talk to her about half way and when I park up I'm not surprised when she jumps out of the truck before I even have time to turn off the engine.

I sigh and curse her dramatics underneath my breath before following her, and I'm a little surprised to find the door is still unlocked.

It wouldn't be the first time she's purposely locked me out of a motel room.

"Ah Mr Sampson, you're back!" I turn around in annoyance and grumble under my breath when the old stereotypical southern owner of this _fine_ establishment calls my fake name. "I've been looking for you."

"What can I do for you, Jack?" I throw a fake smile to match my name and turn around to face him as he waddles his overweight sweaty ass towards me.

The guy is a creep. He wouldn't stop leering at Elena when we checked in the other night and I take an immediate dislike to anyone who makes my girl feel uncomfortable.

"Check out is in three hours," he informs me before trying to look over my shoulder into our motel room. I hold back an eye roll because he is clearly trying to catch a glimpse of Elena.

"Actually, we're going to be staying for a few more nights." I inform him.

"Oh?" he raises his eyebrow with gleeful surprise. "Is your lady enjoying our fine city?"

"Of course." I reply with a strained smile.

"Well, it's still thirty bucks a night so I'm going to need some cash up front." He changes the conversation straight back to business, dollar signs clearly the second thing constantly on his mind after my girlfriends breasts.

Ass.

"Ah," I cringe slightly because I remember that Elena currently has our stash of money and she isn't exactly speaking to me right now. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to break into that any more than we need to. "Can I give you it in a couple of hours?"

"Mr Sampson you know the policy…"

"I know, I know." I flash him another fake smile, "but you see my girl in there just flushed me out at lunch so I don't have anything on me right now. My buddy, you know the one we told you about the first night we checked in?" Yes, not only is he a pervert but he's also a nosey bastard who wouldn't stop asking us questions about our trip. "He owes me some cash and I'm going to meet him later for it."

Jack studies me for a moment before letting out a loud sigh. "You better not be playing me, kid."

"Hey," I hold my hands up. "I'm an honest and trustworthy guy. Besides, you know where I'm sleeping tonight." I wink for good measure and hold in my relief when he lets out a chuckle.

"That I do," he nods and takes a step back. "Okay. Come drop by the office tonight."

I nod and walk into our motel room where I know an angry Elena will be waiting for me ready to either blow my head off or ignore me and make me squirm for a little while before she blows my head off.

I shut the door behind me, glancing at her as she sits on the bed, her back straight as her legs hang down, her feet on the ground as she flickers through the TV.

"Elena," I approach her slowly, my voice soft. "Talk to me."

Her eyebrows press together even further, a scowl on her face as she yet again purposely ignores me.

I huff and throw my keys down onto the cabinet next to the TV before moving in front of it and turning it off.

Elena's eyes eventually find mine and she gives me one hell of a glare.

"I was watching that!" she snarls at me coldly and I roll my eyes.

"You've been in here for about five seconds," I exaggerate. "So no you weren't."

She mutters something incoherent under her breath before pushing herself up to her feet and heading towards the bathroom, however before she can get there I grab her arm and swing her around.

"Get off me!" she shouts at me furiously but I ignore her. "Damon!" she tries hard to escape my grasp and to be honest she almost does. God, she is stronger than she looks! I grab her other arm with my spare hand in an attempt to hold her still but she won't let up.

"Damn it, Elena!" I hiss at her, starting to get angry too. "Will you stop?!"

"Let me go!" she snarls angrily and I roll my eyes.

In the scuffle, I end up pressing her against the wall beside the bathroom door and I raise my eyebrow at her in a challenge when she realizes I have her trapped.

"You are such a dick!"

"I know," I send her a mocking smile and that just infuriates her further as she slams her fists against my chest.

I stand my ground as she does everything in her power to try and push herself free but no matter how strong she is, I'm so much stronger.

"Damon!" her voice shakes with the volume.

"Talk to me." I reply while trying to keep her still. It's hard to try and hold a conversation when the other person is thrashing in your arms and hitting you.

"Move!"

"_No_." I widen my eyes at her threateningly and she groans loudly in frustration but reluctantly, and I stress on that word, giving in and stopping. She's still tense but at least she's not hitting me anymore.

I relax my grip on her arms just a tad but not enough to let her move. I know her tactics and that is something she has also tried before.

"Why are you so mad?" I ask genuinely confused.

Her jaw drops. "Are you serious?" I shrug and nod my head silently. "Oh my god!" she lets out a cold bitter laugh and shakes her head. "You really are an idiot!"

"Thanks." I smile sarcastically at her. "I love you too, sweetheart."

Her glare hardens. "You really don't get why I'm mad?"

"I _get_ why you're mad," I offer her calmly. "You don't like drugs, I get it. I didn't speak to you about it first, I get it. What I don't get, is that you _knew_ coming into this that we would have to do things that you wouldn't like. You _know_ that! We are running out of money, Elena. It's not as if we have a choice!"

"There's always a choice, Damon!" She catches me off guard and pushes me with full strength and I stumble backwards on my feet, my hands leaving her arms as Elena takes a furious step towards me. "There's one hell of a difference between stealing a few sandwiches from Walmart to dealing _drugs_!"

"Sandwiches don't pay for gas or motel rooms!" I argue. "What do you want me to do? I can't win with you! You don't want to sleep in the truck, but you don't want me to make money so we can sleep in a bed at night either?!"

She groans loudly. "That is _not_ it! Do not put this on _me_!"

I suck a breath in and run my hand through my hair in frustration. "I'm not." I watch as she bites on her bottom lip and turns away. I feel the frustration slowly fade away from the look on her face and I look at her with genuine helplessness. "Why are you so mad?" I ask again.

I ignore the painful clench in my stomach when I practically see her swallow the lump in her throat, her head turning back to face me, her watering eyes landing on mine.

"I shouldn't even have to tell you, Damon." Her voice shakes for a second before it steadies again. "You should already know," and with that she turns around and walks into the bathroom. The door shutting quietly behind her and the only sound that can be heard is the sound of the lock twisting.

* * *

I drop off the owed payment to Jack before getting out of there as soon as possible. The last thing I need to hear about right now is another one of his fishing stories and I am so not in the mood to pretend to act interested.

I walk back towards our motel room and stop outside of the door. The light is on, which hopefully means Elena has finally unlocked herself out of the bathroom.

After trying and failing to get her to come out and talk to me, I sulked around the motel room for an hour on my own, flicking through the channels on the TV before Marcel text me with some addresses of some of his clients.

As much as I knew it would piss Elena off even further, I knew even more that we really need the money. So against my better judgement I informed her where I was going and left when she didn't even bother to grace me with a reply.

Elena can say what she wants on her moral high ground, but at the end of the day I now have two hundred dollars in my pocket which I didn't have three hours ago.

I take a deep breath before I open the door, preparing for another angry outburst however my heart stops when I walk inside and find Elena sitting in the middle of the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and tear streaming down her face.

"_Elena_," the guilt starts to eat me up fast and I softly close the door behind me.

She looks up at me and I swear I see relief flash through her eyes but before I know it she's up off the bed and she's crashed into my arms, sobbing.

It takes me a stunned couple of seconds before I wrap my arms around her in return, holding her tightly in my grasp. "Hey, shh," I whisper soothingly into her ear while I run one hand through her hair softly. "I'm sorry, okay, I am. I am so sorry." She makes a broken muffled sound against my neck and my heart breaks.

Fuck. I _hate_ it when she cries. I hate it even more when it's because of me.

"I was so scared," she pulls back and I look at her confused.

"Scared of what, baby?" I ask concerned, brushing away one of her fallen tears with my thumb.

"That you wouldn't come back, or that something would happen." Her voice cracks again and she sniffles. I'd find it cute if this wasn't so gut-wrenching. "This _world_, the one of _drugs_ and _dealers_ and _crime_, this is what got us in this mess in the first place, Damon."

_Now_ I get it.

"Oh Elena," I look at her almost painfully, my other hand moving to her cheek so I'm cupping her face between my palms. "Baby, listen to me." I tell her firmly but keep my voice gentle. "What happened with Vaughn is something that is never going to happen again, okay? I won't let it. I won't let myself get in that situation again."

"But Marcel-"

"Wants me to deal to a bunch of spoilt rich frat boys." I cut her off. "Trust me. This is quick easy money. I can't let this opportunity pass."

She sniffles again and her hands land on mine. "What if you get caught?"

"I _won't_." I tell her sternly. "I'm not exactly new to this, Elena. I know this isn't your world, okay? I get that and I'm sorry I was such a jerk about it earlier, but this _is_ my world. You need to trust that I know what I'm doing and that everything I do, I'm doing it for _us_. It may not be legal, but hell, last time I checked I was on the run for murder so you can't be surprised that I'm not all puppies and rainbows." I attempt to joke with a smile.

Elena lets out a laugh despite herself. "Okay, _one_ that's not how the phrase goes, its _sunshine_ and rainbows, not puppies, and _two_," her smile fades. "You are on the run for a crime you didn't commit."

"I didn't do _that_," I agree, "but that doesn't mean I'm innocent. I shouldn't have even been there that night, but I was. I made a mistake and now we're both paying for it and for that I'm sorry." I tell her genuinely, trying to push back the lump in my throat because I still hate that I dragged her into this mess.

She should be back in Mystic Falls surrounded by her friends and family. I should have been there right by her side, taking her out on dates and buying her gifts. Just being the best boyfriend that I can be, the kind of boyfriend that she deserves.

Instead, she now thinks me buying her _one_ meal in a fairly averaged priced restaurant is a privilege and a luxury.

I'm surprised when Elena presses her lips against mine in a slow soft kiss but it doesn't take me long to respond.

"I told you not to say things like that." She murmurs against my lips and I can feel the wetness of her tear stained face against my cheeks. "I don't regret coming with you. I never will, no matter how much you infuriate the hell out of me sometimes." She kisses me again, her hand clutching my hair tightly as she pushes me backwards towards the bed. "I love you, Damon, so much." We fall backwards onto the bed and she starts to press hot open mouthed kisses against my neck as she lies on top of me.

"I know." I slide my hand down her back to her ass before hooking her thighs around my waist and flipping us over so I'm on top. "I love you too." I kiss her before slowly stripping her of her clothes. "I love you," I mumble against her skin as I kiss down the valley between her breasts. "I love everything about you."

I shower her withering naked body with hot kisses, my movements slow and sensual before I strip off my own clothes.

I enter her slowly, smiling when she moans, her eyes clutched tightly shut. "I love you," I suck on her skin at the small curve between her neck and shoulders. I thrust in and out of her almost painfully slow, but it's needed. Elena shudders and gasps underneath me, in a mix of begging me to go faster but also wanting me to keep going as I am.

Eventually she comes undone and it doesn't take me long to follow. I drop down onto her tiredly, my head landing in the spot in the curve of her neck and I take deep heavy breaths as my tingling body calms down. I lie content in her arms, my eyes fluttering shut peacefully.

"You were wrong before, you know," Elena mumbles tiredly, her voice soft and hoarse as she runs her hand slowly through my hair.

"Hmm?" I keep my eyes closed and nuzzle my head into her smooth neck, my lips pressed against her skin.

"When you said this was your world and not mine." She explains, her hand clutching onto my side tightly as she presses a kiss to the top of my head. "You were wrong, because this _is_ my world now too." She whispers into my ear and I fall asleep with a smile on my face.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Don't be shy to drop me a review and tell me what you thought :) I love reading them. Again big thank you to those who took the time to write one already, I really do appreciate it you're awesome!**

**Thanks guys, until next time! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Gravity**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries**

**I am so so so sorry that it's took me so long to update! I have a billion excuses to do with work and uni etc but I won't waste any more time than I have already!**

**Thank you Mara for taking time out to read this chapter over for me, I appreciate it :) **

**This chapter starts off with Klaus' POV and there's another section about midway from his POV too! **

* * *

**June 14th ****2013**

**Friday 8:50pm **

**Mystic Falls**

In the US dictionary the definition of the word 'bored' is this_:__one who __feels weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity_.

Someone needs to inform those academics that they got it wrong, because the real definition of the word 'bored', or shall I say the use of the word 'boring', is my life right now.

I hate that I have become one of those bloody people who whinge about their life because it has no real purpose, but as of right now that's exactly who I am.

School is officially out for the summer. I should be celebrating the fact that I have graduated, that I have finally escaped the clutches of Mystic Falls High School for good. This should be one of the best days of my life.

Yet, as I stand here leaning against a tree in the woods watching the start of summer bonfire come to life in the distance, a cup of cheap stale beer in my hands, I realize that I actually don't have any plans for the future.

College is a big no-no for me, the thought of being stuck in the education system for another four years is not exactly pleasant and I made sure to derail that idea a _long_ time ago.

The truth is I don't really know what I want to do with my life. Graduation just sort of crept up on me. After all the drama that Damon left behind I'd been distracted and before I knew it I was sitting down to fail my final exam and I was dismissed from school for good, sent off packing into the real world.

I take a large gulp from my beer, cringing at the taste, regretting I didn't steal some of my Dad's expensive bourbon on my way over here. I don't even know why I came. High school parties suck arse and I hate pretty much everyone here.

So why did I come? Well, it's not exactly like my social calendar is full up lately. My best friend is off half way across the country doing God knows what, his younger brother is using me as an outlet to project his anger onto for helping said best friend leave town. All my old buddies think I had a hand in Vaughn's death so they all hate me too.

I'm not exactly Mr Popular in Mystic Falls right now.

"Cheers for that Damon, mate." I mumble under my breath and take another sip from my beer.

"You look about as bored as I feel."

I look up to see none other than Caroline freaking Forbes approaching me with her own cup in her hands. She eyes me slowly and I immediately stand up straight, noticing her steps slowing down the closer she gets to me.

"It's a dull party," I reply before letting a smirk cross my lips. "Maybe we can go liven things up elsewhere?" I raise an eyebrow and watch as predictably she pulls a look of disgust and her expression immediately changes to a glare.

"Gross. There is absolutely no way, not even if we were the last two people on earth."

"Ouch," I press my spare hand against my heart. "I'm hurt, love. Don't worry though. You're a little too prim and proper for my taste." I inform her and grin when her scowl deepens.

"You know, I actually came over here because you looked depressed as hell and I felt sorry for you. Clearly I should have just gone with my better judgement and stayed away."

"Oh I'm not depressed sweetheart," I chuckle and throw my now empty cup onto the grass. "Bored? Sure! Depressed? You've got the wrong guy."

She doesn't say anything and I watch curiously as she turns to face back to the party that is still continuing on as normal without us.

We stand here for a few moments, neither of us saying anything. The distant music and loud chatter from the party is heard but it's all mixed up together in one jumbled blur.

"Do you know where they are?" Caroline turns back to face me, her eyes glistening and I gulp.

"Who?"

"You _know_ who." She looks at me intently and I sigh and look away. "Oh my god," she gasps and my head snaps towards her from the tone of her voice. "You do? Don't you?!" she takes two giant steps towards me. "You know where they are!"

"No." I glare at her, kicking a rock by my shoe. "I don't know where they are."

"I don't believe you."

"Not my problem." I snap at her angrily.

"Klaus, if you know something you need to tell someone!" she practically pleads with my desperately and I look at her in disbelief.

"Are you out of your mind or really just _that_ stupid?" I gawp at her and she doesn't answer, keeping her face stern. "Okay, first things first, love, I don't know where they are. Secondly, even if I do, which again I _don't_," I stress, "I sure as hell wouldn't be telling anyone about it."

"Why the hell not? What Damon did was wrong! He _killed_ someone and clearly Elena isn't thinking straight by running away with him! She's in trouble, she's breaking the law for _him_ and she's messing up her life! So if you _do_ know where they are then you _really_ need to tell someone!"

I scoff and look away. "You have no idea, Caroline." I mutter coldly, looking back towards her and closing the distance so we are standing toe to toe. "Damon didn't kill Vaughn, okay? He was set up. He may have done a lot of things, he may _be_ a lot of things but a killer sure as hell ain't one of them." Her blue eyes are looking straight into my own and my gaze doesn't waver. "Elena isn't stupid; do you really believe her to be that naive? You're prejudice against Damon because of who he is, because of his last name is what led to them leaving in the first place. This god damn town is toxic and to be frank, Caroline _Forbes_, you should know better."

I ignore the startled look on her face and turn around and walk away.

* * *

"Hey, you're here with Marcel, right?"

I blink in my slightly intoxicated state to see some size zero tall blonde with big boobs standing right in front of me with a drink in her hand. She's looking at me with a hopeful yet slightly nervous look on her face and I have absolutely no idea why.

"Huh?" I ask again over the loud music because it really is freaking loud in here.

"Marcel Gerrard, are you here with him?" she asks again. "I saw you talking to him earlier."

"Marcel?" I frown slightly before nodding slowly. "Yeah…I know Marcel."

"Are you two…?" she trails off and raises her eyebrows at me.

It takes me a moment too long in my drunken haze to understand what she is implying.

"What? _No_. God no."

"Oh good," she smiles happily. "I'm Adrianna." She holds out her spare hand and I warily shake it.

"Elena." I reply.

"So, do you think you can introduce me to him? I've been _dying_ to speak to him all night!" she almost jumps and down giddily. I try my best to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

I have come to realize over the past two weeks of being here in Austin that Marcel Gerrard is kind of a big deal to his peers. It turns out, that despite being a newly graduated senior from high school, Marcel has still managed to cement his place within the college crowd at the University of Texas. Apparently Marcel is a legacy, and his father is a somewhat football legend around here. He has pretty much every fraternity on the campus desperately trying to get him to rush for them in the fall. He gets invited to all of the best parties and basically gets some strange kind of royal treatment.

Honestly, I find the whole thing kind of bizarre, but Marcel seems to love the attention it gives him and apparently it is good for business, which means that Damon is all for it and our attendance at these shindigs are required and necessary.

_Right_.

I can't complain though, because for me it now means free booze and fun parties. It's nice to be able to act like a normal teenager for once. It's been a while.

"Um…come find me later?" I offer her a fake smile really hoping that she doesn't. "I need to go find my boyfriend, it's an emergency."

Adrianna's smile instantly fades, her face full of disappointment, and for a second I almost feel sorry for the girl, until I remember that I'm not Marcel's pimp. I'm not here at this party to introduce him to hot college girls all night.

I briskly make my escape and head straight towards the beer stand, pouring myself a cup from the keg. I guzzle it quickly then refill it. I grab a spare cup and fill that one too before pushing my way back through the heavy crowds of drunken students.

It doesn't take me long to find Damon, exactly where I left him only this time Marcel is there too with his usual arrogant smirk on his lips.

"Elena! There you are, he was about to send out a search party for you!" Marcel bellows out at me as I get closer, Damon turning around with his lips twisting up into a smile.

"Well maybe if I wasn't ambushed by yet another one of your groupies I wouldn't have taken so long." I reply pointedly, watching amused as Marcel smirks. I pass Damon his drink and he takes it with a grin and a sloppy drunken kiss to my lips.

"Thanks," he murmurs in a slur against my lips before kissing me quickly again.

"Was she hot?" Marcel interrupts us and I roll my eyes.

"Look around, every girl in here is _hot_."

"Not as hot as you though, right Damon?" Marcel winks at me and I roll my eyes. The guy is one hell of a flirt. "

Damon pauses. He doesn't seem sure of whether or not to be annoyed by the comment or to agree in his inebriated mind. I know he hasn't exactly been impressed with some of Marcel's less than subtle comments about me this week, but I also know that he hasn't been taking them to heart as much as he would if they were coming from someone else.

"Sure." Damon finally speaks up, his hand sliding underneath my top on my hip. "I have the hottest girl in the room," he smirks at me and I roll my eyes to hide my blush. He pushes Marcel back with his spare hand. "Take note of the word _I_." He pointedly looks at Marcel with a hint of warning.

He pouts and shakes his head, his arms wrapping around the both of us. "You don't want to share?" he asks innocently and I scowl. Damon tenses with a thunderous look in his eyes but it doesn't faze Marcel, instead he just lets out a loud laugh _"_You small town folk don't know how to take a joke!"

"Maybe we'd find you funny if you actually had a decent sense of humor?" I offer with a fake smile.

"Ouch. You are feisty this evening. I'm going to take this as my cue to leave."

"Good idea," Damon sends him a mocking smile. Marcel chuckles to himself and turns away, probably off to chase the nearest piece of skirt that I'm sure will be more than willing. "The guy's a douche." My boyfriend grumbles while taking a large swig of his beer.

"Oh come on, he's not that bad." I smile because I know that deep down Damon secretly likes Marcel. No matter how much he will deny it.

Damon pulls a face and moves in front of me, peering down to have a look into my drink which is filled up pretty much to the brim.

"A full drink?" He tuts disapprovingly. "What is wrong with you?"

"Maybe I want to say relatively sober to be able to look after you tonight," I raise my eyebrow at him, motioning to his almost empty cup and I've lost count to how many drinks he has had already tonight.

"Pfft." Damon scoffs loudly, "You should know by now that my tolerance is way up here." He raises his spare arm high up in the air and I grin.

"You told me once that tolerances were there to be broken," I point out with a smirk. Butterflies lining my stomach as he laughs, his arm dropping down to wrap around my waist again.

"I _did_ tell you that."

"See, I do listen to you sometimes." I smirk while lightly pressing my lips against his in a kiss that is far too short.

"Only sometimes," he murmurs against my mouth, kissing me again. "Most of the time you are a stubborn pain in my ass."

I gasp loudly and swat his shoulder. "You _are_ an ass."

He chuckles and kisses me again. "You _love _me." He smirks arrogantly and I stubbornly shake my head.

"Nope."

His smirk gets bigger. "Yes you do."

"No I don't."

He runs his hand that's round my waist down to my ass and squeezes it firmly and unexpectedly, I almost shriek and unconsciously jerk forward so now our chests are flushed against each other and judging from the cocky grin on his face that was his exact intentions. "You're an ass," I repeat in a murmur as my eyes drop down to his lips which are just centimetres from my own.

"I _like_ your ass. In fact no, I _love_ your ass." He strokes it slowly before sliding his hand further down to the back of my thigh. I try to fight my eyes from fluttering shut as he moves his hand from the back of my thigh slowly around to side, his fingers stroking my bare skin before the hemline of my skirt. "Go on; admit how much you love me."

I shake my head silently and shudder when I feel his hot mouth land on my neck.

"Elena," he mumbles against my skin, his lips kissing the same spot repeatedly before I feel his teeth gently scratch against me. "We all know that you're obsessed with me."

I can't stop the laughter that escapes my lips and I pull back and look at him in a mix of admiration and disbelief. "You are unbelievable, you know that?"

"I know." He grins, his hand moving back up to its original place on my waist. "Now tell me you love me?" his smile widens and I shake my head with a giggle.

"I love you."

"Good." He smirks cockily. "Now kiss me." He demands.

So I do.

* * *

Elena giggles as I squeeze my arms around her waist, lifting her up slightly so her feet kick out into the air in front of her as I walk through the door into Marcel's house. After a few days of being in Austin, Marcel suggested that Elena and I stay with him instead of forking out the cash for a motel. I said no at first, both Elena and I would rather have our privacy but when he informed us that his parents are across the world on a two month break and that we would have an entire wing of the house to ourselves, I decided that despite his annoying tendencies, living here did have its advantages.

"Damon!" she shrieks, especially when I almost drop her in my drunken state when I nudge the front door shut behind me with my elbow.

I nuzzle my face into her neck and playfully bite her, smirking against her skin as she squirms in my arms but that only makes me tighten my grip around her.

"You taste delicious," I make joking eating noses against her neck before finally setting her down onto the ground. She swings around in my arms, a flustered but happy look on her face as her hands slide up my chest to wrap around my neck as I walk her backwards.

"Why don't I give you a real taste?" She smirks suggestively, her brown eyes dark and filled with lust and I feel my dick twitch eagerly already.

"Oh and is that an offer?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Mhmm. I'll show you mine if you show me _yours_." she presses her lips against mine and sighs into the kiss, my hands gripping her hips tightly as I push her back towards the stairs. She falls down onto the third step and I move on top of her, my mouth never leaving hers as I kiss her back hungrily.

I feel her hands ride up my t-shirt, her fingers leaving hot trails against my skin as they roam my back freely.

"Um, Damon." She squirms slightly, shifting and lifting up her hips and that only causes me to groan with pleasure. In fact it takes me a few moments to realize that she is squirming for an entirely different reason to me. "Ouch," she pushes me back, breaking the kiss. "Stairs?" she looks up at me breathless, her cheeks tinted pink and her lips swollen. "So not comfortable." She informs me and I chuckle before tugging on her hands to help her back up to her feet.

However before we can even make it up another step I hear the sound of our names being called and I groan loudly.

"Ah!" Marcel rounds the corner into the hallway to see us. "I thought I heard you both come in! Come on into the kitchen, we're having a mini after party."

"We're good, thanks." I inform him quickly with a fake smile, eager to get Elena upstairs to fulfil on her promise.

"Oh come on guys!" Marcel, as always, refuses to take no as an answer. "We're making pancakes," he informs us with a cheeky grin and the second the word leaves his mouth I groan loudly.

Elena's eyes light up and she looks at him almost eagerly. "Pancakes?"

"Yup."

She turns back to me and the look on her face proves my original fear. "No." I practically growl.

"Damon," she pouts, her fingers playing with my hair. "We love pancakes."

"No, _you_ love pancakes." I throw back immediately but I already know that this is a losing battle.

"Pretty please?" she moves forward so her lips are a breath away from my own. "Please?" she whispers, pressing a far too short open mouthed kiss against my lips. "Pancakes." She pulls back, her doe eyes wide and bright and I groan loudly.

"Fine." I give in reluctantly, making my displeasure completely obvious.

Marcel chuckles and I'm reminded that he's still here and I grab a hold of Elena's hand and follow him into the kitchen. I look around the room briefly, Marcel's annoying best friend Thierry is stood by the stove, flipping pancakes almost expertly. Another guy who I forgot the name of is shoving down a syrup covered one into his mouth messily. Apart from the three boys, the rest of the small group are girls and I roll my eyes completely not surprised.

"Ah, Elena." Thierry greets my girlfriend with a big smile and I don't even bother to hide my glare. The guy has been hitting on her since the moment they met, not that Elena seems to notice. Every time I bring it up she just rolls her eyes and says that I say that about any guy who speaks more than five words to her. "You want the next one?"

"Yes please!" Elena agrees happily, her mouth practically watering and I wrap my arm around her waist in an almost possessive stance as Thierry drops the pancake onto a plate and passes it over to her with a wink.

He sees my glare and his smile falters slightly before he quickly turns back around to the stove and starts to make the next one.

I'm not surprised when Elena squirts a shit load of syrup onto her pancake and I inwardly groan when she sprinkles some sugar onto it too.

"You're going to have no teeth left by the end of that," I murmur into her ear and she rolls her eyes. Ignoring me, as she shoves her fork greedily into her mouth, a satisfied moan escaping her lips before she practically forces a mouthful into my own mouth while insisting that I'll like it.

I have to admit, it's not _that_ bad but it's still too sweet for me and I decline another bite.

We fall into mindless drunken chatter while Elena attacks another pancake. I tune out Marcel and his friends boasting as they try to impress the girls they've brought home with football stats and whatever, not that they seem to even need impressing, they are like putty in their hands already.

However after twenty minutes or so, I feel Elena tense in my arms and I'm brought back into the room and I blink as I notice a blonde girl looking directly at me.

Still noticing Elena standing tense in my arms, I look at her curiously. "Sorry?"

She smiles and shakes her head before speaking up again. "I said, have we met before? I feel like I know you from somewhere."

That explains Elena's sudden shift of mood.

My mouth opens slightly as she looks at me curiously and I frown and shake my head. "Uh no, I don't think so."

The girl doesn't look satisfied however. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." I tell her firmly. Elena is still standing stiffly in my arms and I slide my hand discreetly under her shirt and stroke the skin of her hip soothingly.

"What's this?" Marcel joins in the conversation, as the room continues to chatter around us, no one else's attention on us.

"I just thought I recognized your friend from somewhere." The girl tells him while batting her eyelashes.

Marcel looks at me.

I shrug. "Maybe I just have one of those faces."

"Yeah." The girl agrees, seemingly convinced or at least distracted as Marcel casually drapes an arm around her shoulders. "Probably."

"Hey," Elena turns around in my arms to face me. "You ready to go to bed?" she keeps her voice calm and steady but I don't miss the nerves inside.

"I sure am." I step back and we quickly say goodnight before escaping the room. It's not until we are upstairs, the door shut locked behind us that Elena swings to face me with fear evident in her eyes.

"You don't think she recognized you because of Vaughn do you?" she asks nervously.

"Nah." I shake my head, pushing back the nervous lump in my stomach. "How could she? We check the newspapers here every day and my name hasn't even made the small print. We are a long way from Virginia."

"I know but there are other ways…" her voice shows her stress. "What if she saw your photo online or something?"

"Elena," I step towards her and place my hands on her arms. "Don't worry, okay? I probably just look like someone she knows or something. How many times has someone said that you look familiar even though you've never met them before in your life?"

"A few times." She admits in a mumble.

"Exactly," I stress convincingly, needing to reassure her because it probably really was nothing. "Now come on," I smirk, my hands sliding down her arms to her hands as I walk her backwards towards the bed. "You have an offer to follow through on." I wink as her expression instantly changes to a lustful one as I push her down onto the bed and crawl on top of her.

* * *

"Ah Mr Mikealson, just the man I was looking for."

I look up and groan when I see Grayson Gilbert walking towards me through the crowded grill. I push myself up to my feet in a motion to leave but his hand is on my shoulder and he shoves me back down before I can even take one step.

"I don't think so," he glares at me before pulling out the chair across from me and taking a seat.

"You know Detective, this is harassment."

"So sue me?" he goads me and I scowl knowing fine well that he knows I won't do that. "Let's make this short and sweet shall we? What's in Alabama?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't play games with me, kid." His stance turns aggressive, his voice full of anger as he leans forward on his chair. "I know you helped Damon and my daughter leave town."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Also, you can't question me without a lawyer present. I have rights." I snap at him angrily.

"Oh this isn't official questioning," he glares back at me. "Some new footage has been sent to me of that ever so pleasant friend of yours punching a security guard after being caught shoplifting in a local store in western Alabama."

I feel the smile creeping to my lips and it just infuriates Grayson more when a small sound of laughter escapes my lips.

"So I'm going to ask you again, what are Damon and Elena doing in Alabama?" he leans forward onto the table in an attempt to be threatening.

"Maybe they wanted to visit the Rocket Center?" I shrug innocently with a smirk. "Who knows? Is Elena into that stuff?"

Grayson slams his fist down onto the table angrily, my glass of coke shaking causing some to spill over onto the old wood. "This isn't a game." He hisses at me furiously. "That bastard has my daughter!"

I refrain from rolling my eyes. "Damon doesn't _have_ Elena, she went with him of her own choice. You, Detective, are delusional if you think otherwise. I don't know what Damon and Elena were doing in Alabama. I haven't spoken to them, and if I did I sure as hell wouldn't tell you about it. Hell, if I do speak to them I'll make sure to warn them off from going wherever you think they are." I snap back at him in annoyance but before I barely finish my sentence Grayson grabs me by the collar of my t-shirt and pulls me across the table.

His eyes are wide with pure rage and for a moment a wave of fear lines my stomach at the look in his eye.

"Now you listen here," he snarls. "If you ever, _ever_ –"

"Uh…Mr Gilbert?"

He stills, his grip on my shirt still tight and I don't dare turn away, my eyes glued to his intimidating ones, neither of us backing down.

Eventually though, Grayson's hands on my collar loosen and I push myself backwards away from his grasp, turning to face Caroline who is looking between us with a wary expression on her face.

"Everything okay?" she questions slowly and I'm not sure if it's directed to me or him.

I ignore her and grab my jacket from the back of the chair. "Next time you try to threaten me or try to talk to me _unofficially_ again I'm going to report you for harassment." I glare at him before turning to make a quick escape, ignoring all the stares from the other patrons occupying The Grill.

I don't even make it three steps out of the door before I hear my name being called and I inwardly groan and turn around to see Caroline chasing after me.

"What now?" I snap at her impatiently, my mood making me give no time for manners.

Caroline ignores my tone and closes the distance between us. "What was all that about?"

"What do you think?" I mutter coldly. "He is looking for someone to blame for Elena running away and since Damon isn't here he's using me as his new scapegoat. I don't exactly know what he expects from me, I'm in the dark about the two of them almost as much as he is."

Caroline doesn't answer. Her silence surprises me. I let out a loud sigh and run a tired hand down my face before shaking my head and turning to leave again but her voice stops me.

"Can I ask you something?"

I pause, looking at her closely for a moment before replying.

"Do I have a choice?"

Caroline glares at me for a moment before sighing and brushing her hand through her long flowing blonde hair.

"Fine." I motion with my hand for her to speak. "Ask away."

She looks nervous for a second before recomposing herself into the confident girl that I'm more familiar with. "Do you really believe that Damon is innocent? I mean, if he wasn't your best friend…and you weren't loyal to him, do you really believe that he didn't kill that guy?"

I stay silent and watch her for a moment. "Would my answer make a difference to you?"

"I don't want to actually believe it, you know?" Caroline frowns looking at me, a hint of something in her voice that I can't quite work out. "I don't want to believe that my best friend is on the run God knows where with a murderer, and her only source of contact and," she grimaces slightly "_comfort_, is with a man who is capable of taking someone's life. I _want_ Damon to be innocent."

"He _is_ innocent." I push her, my voice firm.

"But what if he's not?" she asks quietly. "You weren't there. You don't know that for sure, the only person who knows is Damon and what if…" she trails and lets out a frustrated sigh. "I'm just worried about my best friend. I just want her to come home."

"Damon would never ever hurt Elena."

"Maybe not on purpose."

"No, _ever_. He loves her." I tell her firmly, Caroline blinking in surprise. "Look," I take a small step closer to her so we are standing almost toe to toe. "I know that Damon has done bad things, I know he even likes to revel in it. I get why you might question his character, why you would question mine. But murder?" I shake my head. "No way, he wouldn't. Nor would he ever hurt Elena, she means the world to him and if you paid just an ounce of attention to what was going on between them over the few weeks before they left town then you would know that too."

Caroline's jaw opens then closes again, her eyes watching my own and I'm surprised to find that she actually seems to be speechless for once.

"I know you're worried about Elena," I take a step back, shoving my hands into my pockets. "I get it, I'm worried about Damon, but she's safe with him. He'll look after her and hopefully someday soon they'll be able to come home."

"Yeah…" Caroline replies quietly, a crease in her eyebrows as she watches me. "Hopefully."

I nod at her and this time when I turn to leave I'm actually able to make it to my car.

* * *

When I woke up this morning it was unfortunately to a dull ache in the back of my skull. Apparently I drank too much last night.

So we end up spending most of the day in bed, only leaving to use the bathroom. I made a quick trip downstairs earlier on to get us both some snacks and luckily I managed to avoid running into anyone.

"How come we've been in bed all day and I still feel tired?" Elena stifles a yawn as she pulls her top over her head.

"Um…maybe because I spent the majority of the morning giving you the best sex you've ever had?" I suggest cockily, a smirk evidently on show for her to see.

She rolls her eyes and fights a smile and I notice that she doesn't deny it. I chuckle and zip up my jeans before pressing a soft kiss against her lips.

"Come on." She tugs on my hand. "I'm hungry, and for real food this time." She pulls me towards the bedroom door and as always I follow. It's about time we made an appearance anyway.

Predictably, Marcel and his _guest_ from last night are there so there goes my wish for the kitchen to be empty. They are sitting eating nachos when we walk in the room, both of them looking up and greeting us with tired hellos and I realize that I'm not the only one suffering from a hangover today.

"Glad to see the two of you finally re-join civilization." Marcel winks at me suggestively and I roll my eyes but not before letting a very brief smirk cross my lips before Elena notices. Marcel chuckles silently and shoves a handful of nachos into his mouth.

"Those smell delicious." Elena muses as she eyes it up and this time Marcel lets his laughter out.

"The oven is still probably warm if you want to make your own." He offers and Elena turns to face me and I nod my head with a shrug.

She takes that as the go ahead and grabs a tray and tips the nachos on, looking around the fridge for the cheese.

I take a seat at the island across from Marcel and his lady friend, the same one who thought she recognized me last night but I push the thought to the back of my mind because I really do think it was just a coincidence.

Elena doesn't seem worried about it anymore, which is good and I yawn tiredly as Marcel starts to talk to me more about business.

"You sell out last night?" he asks me curiously and I glance briefly at the girl beside him. "Don't worry, she's cool." He waves his hand and I nod.

"Yup. I even managed to overcharge some drunken college freshman too." I smirk at the memory, very thankful for the extra cash that is tucked away upstairs in my wallet for when Elena and I eventually move on from here.

Marcel smirks and takes a sip from his drink. "That's what I like to hear, Damon."

"Damon." The blonde girl from last night snaps her head up to look at me, her eyes wide and her face paling and I immediately tense.

_Fuck_.

"Oh my God," she whispers with wide eyes, glancing between me and an oblivious Elena frantically.

"Elena," I rise to my feet, my voice tense and Elena turns around from across the kitchen and looks at me confused. "Go and get our stuff, now." I order her firmly.

"What?" she steps forward surprised, her eyebrows creased together confused but when she notices the look on the girls face realization dawns and her face is replaced with fear.

"Go now, Elena!" she nods quickly and practically runs from the room.

"What?" Marcel stands up confused. "What's going on? Lisa?"

So that's her name.

"We need to call the cops…" the girl stands up frantically. "He…he…." She picks up her cell phone that was resting on the counter and I react instantly.

I shake my head and round the counter, grabbing her wrist tightly and snatching the phone from her hand.

"Damon? What the hell man?" Marcel barks at me in a mixture of frustration, confusion and a hint of anger. "What's going on?!" his voice rises like an order. "Damon, let go of her!" He tries to shove my hand from her wrist and I reluctantly do so, keeping her phone still tightly clutched in my other hand.

"He…he…" the girl stutters in panic and I stand still, silently wishing for Elena to be almost done grabbing our stuff. "I knew I recognized you!" she shouts at me in frustration. "You killed that man…you're on the run!"

"_What_?!" Marcel gawps at me in disbelief and I quickly shake my head.

"No, I didn't kill anyone." I defend myself immediately. I figured out pretty quickly that Klaus hadn't informed Marcel on the real reason Elena and I left Mystic Falls, my best friend spinning some story about how we were just needing space away from our rivaling families for the summer.

"Yes, it's you!" the girl argues, the fear evident in her voice. "I just got back from visiting family who live in Virginia; I saw your photo in the paper! You're on the run for murder and you took your girlfriend with you!"

"Oh my god," Marcel looks at me in disbelief. "Oh my god," he turns around and storms out of the kitchen and I quickly run after him just in time to see Elena get to the bottom of the stairs, both of our duffel bags in each of her hands.

"Marcel!" I chase after him. "Where are you going?!"

"I'm calling the damn cops!" he shouts back furiously as he keeps on walking. I notice Elena's panicked eyes.

"No Marcel, please!" She steps towards him as he marches towards his house phone by the front door.

"Move!" he shoves Elena aside forcefully, causing her to almost fall over, and I swear I almost see red as she falls against the wall roughly.

Marcel picks up the phone and goes to dial in the numbers but I grab the handset from his hand roughly and slam it back down.

"You know, I always knew there was something off about you!" Marcel shoves me backwards and reaches for the phone again but I grab his shoulder roughly and swing him around.

"You aren't calling the cops!" I practically growl furiously and we end up in a scuffle, both of our hands trying to choke the hell out of each other and as we struggle to overpower each other. Our strength is matching up to each other's and we shove and fumble around, crashing against the wall.

"Let go of me!" Marcel snarls furiously but I don't give in, not until a jolt of pain shoots up me and I groan and fall to my knees, clutching my parts as I realize Marcel has just jammed his knee hard into my crotch.

"Jesus!" I snarl onto the floor, Elena instantly by my side, panic in her eyes.

I push myself up to my feet just as Marcel starts to redial 911 and for a moment I think it's all over. Even if we run now, the cops will probably get to us before we even get out of the city. Marcel knows what car I drive and everything.

I don't think, I see Marcel's fingers hit the keys in slow motion and I reach out to grab a vase that is placed on the side table to my right and before Marcel can finish dialing the third number I reach my hand back and slam the vase against the back of his head.

Elena shrieks and the vase smashes immediately, Marcel crashing straight onto the floor unconscious and I gulp breathlessly.

"Oh my god!" Elena dives towards Marcel but I grab her by her waist and pull her back, shaking my head. "Damon!" she practically screams in disbelief.

"Get our things in the truck, _now_!" I order her and she looks at me startled.

I hear the sound of a cry come from behind me just in time to turn around to see the girl, Lisa, staring at me fearfully, her eyes moving from Marcel's unconscious body to me.

I gulp and take a slow step towards her, my arm held out in front of me.

"No!" she cries out, tears running frantically down her face. "No! Stay away from me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," I try and keep my voice calm but my heart is pounding painfully against my chest. I spare a glance back to Marcel and I groan when I see Elena is knelt down beside him, her hand resting on his arm as she looks him over. "Damn it, Elena! Don't touch him! Get our things in the truck!"

"Well excuse me for wanting to check if he's _alive_!" she argues back furiously and I clench my jaw.

"He's fine, just knocked out! Now go!"

She glares at me and moves to grab our things but just as she's about to leave she stops and turns around, noticing Lisa still cowering in the corner, cries falling from her lips as tears slide down her cheeks.

Elena's face falls.

"He's not going to hurt you." She says softly, her eyes laced with guilt. She drops the bags, _again_, and takes slow steps towards her, walking past me towards Lisa.

"No!" she cries out between a sob. "Please! Don't come any closer."

Elena stills and glances at me nervously and I bite my tongue to resist a snarky comment about how she should be loading the trunk right now. Marcel won't be out for long and we need to be gone ASAP.

I groan and turn around, moving towards the house phone and slamming it against the ground before hitting my foot against it to make sure that it's completely smashed and unusable.

I turn back around and move back towards them, looking down at Marcel as I go, I rest my hand gently on Elena's hip and try to keep my voice steady and calm even though I am panicking like hell inside.

I can't go to prison, but more importantly, I can't lose Elena.

"Elena," I say softly into her ear. "Please. I am begging you, get in the car."

She stares at me unsure and I notice her gulp. "What are you going to do?" she asks in a whisper and part of me wonders what exactly she thinks I am capable of. I know that my reputation is a dark one, I know that Elena is very much aware of some of the awful things that I have done in the past.

However, she needs to trust me on this.

"I promise I'm not going to hurt anyone." I tell her firmly, my hand squeezing her waist. "Please." I say softly and she nods slowly and takes a step back.

"No, no!" Lisa speaks up again, her voice full of dread as she starts to shake her head. "Don't leave me with him!"

Elena looks almost heartbroken and I swallow my fear and my guilt as I watch my girlfriend ignore Lisa's cries and grabs our bags and leaves without another word.

I still for a moment, before slowly turning back to Lisa who is cowering in the corner in fear. Jesus Christ, she is actually terrified of me. I realize that I haven't exactly given her reason not to be, I mean, she believes that I'm a murderer, a killer, and she's just watched me knock out her lover right in front of her eyes.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so afraid of me before, especially a girl. It gives me a painful uncomfortable feeling deep inside but I take a deep breath and push it away.

"I need you to stay calm." I take a slow step towards her and that just makes her cry louder and I am so glad that Marcel's mansion is so big that his neighbors are a good distance away to not be able to hear this.

I cringe and stop, looking around the parlor and freeze when I see the curtains covering the windows by the front the door. I quickly walk towards them and pull them off and ripping them into wide strips, ignoring Lisa's pleas and screams and I hope to God Elena can't hear this from the truck.

I try my best to tune her out as I hurriedly approach her, the fabric clutched tightly in my hands and I grunt in pain and annoyance as her fingers claw at my skin as I bend down in front of her, her hands slapping my face and my neck but I grab her wrists in a firm grip and use a ripped piece of the curtain to tie it around her wrists tightly. She gasps in pain and I murmur an apology before doing the same to her ankles, gripping down her kicking feet.

I gulp and do the part that I am less willing to do but if Elena and I want to make it out of this state before we're reported then I don't have a choice. I tie a piece of fabric around her mouth, gagging her and she muffles a scream through the material.

"I'm _so_ sorry." I tell her sincerely once she can't move. Her eyes are wide with fear as tears continue to flow down her cheeks.

I thank God that Elena didn't have to witness this.

I quickly do the same thing to Marcel, who is starting to stir slightly but remains unconscious. Once I make sure the knots are tight enough, I rise to my feet and glance again at Lisa who is watching me with terrified eyes, tears still flowing quickly down her already wet cheeks.

Again I swallow my guilt and look at her almost shamefully. "I'm sorry." I practically whisper before turning on my heel and running out of the house.

I slam the door shut behind me and fall back against it, my eyes closing ever so briefly before I recompose myself.

I pull out Lisa's cell phone from my pocket and drop it onto the concrete floor and stamp my foot onto it a few times, breaking it into pieces.

I see Elena's silhouette in the truck that's parked along the driveway and I quickly make my way over and jump inside.

I notice immediately that she is crying, her arms wrapped around herself protectively and when she turns to face me her eyes widen.

"What did you do?" her voice is cold and tense. I frown confused but then I realize that Lisa scratched me and I probably have the evidence clear for her to see.

"She's fine." I tell her firmly, swallowing the lump in my throat as I put the keys in the ignition and start the car. Slamming my foot against the accelerator, wanting to get as far away from this house as possible.

Elena doesn't say anything else; instead she turns her head away and stares out of the window. She's stopped crying but her eyes are still wet with tears and I clutch onto the steering wheel tightly as we fall into an uncomfortable tense silence.

I didn't realize how long we'd been driving until I noticed the sun starting to set and that it was starting to get dark. I spare a glance at Elena for the first time since we left Marcel's house and I notice that while her tears have dried away, her body is still tense and her arms are still wrapped around herself in a protective stance.

I take a deep breath and break the silence.

"Elena?"

She doesn't reply, but she tilts her head from the side window to the front so I know that she's listening.

"I'm sorry for what I did." I say quietly, my body seeping with guilt as I'm reminded of the look of fear in Lisa's eyes back at the house as well as Elena's shocked look after I knocked Marcel out.

She doesn't reply and I gulp, my knuckles turning white against the wheel as I clutch it tightly, unable to let go even if I wanted too. My other hand is clutching the gear stick so tightly that it starts a numbing pain in my fingers but again I can't seem to let go.

"I did what I did to survive," I continue despite her ignoring me. "For _us_ to survive." I keep my eyes glued onto the freeway ahead of us.

"I know," Elena whispers and I'm surprised by the softness in her voice. Her hand moves and lands on my own that is resting on the gear stick and I nervously spare another glance to see that she's now looking at me.

Her familiar doe eyes are now back to their usual softness and I feel a release, my shoulders instantly relaxing.

"I _know_." She whispers again and my fingers are finally able to let go.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :)**

**Also, massive thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I can't believe I have over 100 reviews already! You are all super amazing and I'm so grateful!**

**Let me know your thoughts!**

**Until next time**


	4. Chapter 4

**Gravity**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.**

**Happy TVD Thursday everyone! Who else is excited for the episode tonight? Can't wait for some DE :) **

* * *

**July 7th 2013**

**Sunday 3:40am**

**Denver, Colorado**

"God I am _so_ hungry!" Elena whines in her drunken state as I grab a hold of her arm to stop her from falling over. We all stumble out of a packed nightclub onto the busy loud street, pushing through drunken revelers in our way.

"There we go," I smirk slightly and fling her arm around my waist to help keep her balanced. I wrap my arms around her and walk her steadily beside me to stop her from falling over.

"I could eat a burger right now. Or a steak. Oh, or cheese fries. Damon, I'm hungry." she makes some sort of strange noise that almost sounds like it came straight from her stomach.

"You're _always_ hungry, Elena." I reply back as I stuff my hand into my pocket to pull out some change. I hope I have enough for us to get a cab back to our motel or this is going to be a very long walk home.

"Oh, bad move Damon."

"Huh?"

I turn to see Rose looking at me amused and I frown confused before I realize that Elena is trying to push herself out of my arms.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" she questions with a glare on her face and a sharp bite to her tone as she pushes me backwards with her hands. I reluctantly let go, if only to not cause a scene on this crowded sidewalk.

"Good luck with this one buddy." Rose's boyfriend Trevor looks at me with a grin and I roll my eyes.

"It's not supposed to mean anything." I reply simply, but clearly not saying the right thing as Elena only looks more pissed off. "If anything take it as a compliment that you can eat anything you want and still look like _that_." I deliberately eye up her body slowly, an appreciative look visible on my face as I take in her long legs that are on show from the summer dress she bought just earlier on today during a girls shopping trip with Rose.

Elena stares at me for a moment, clearly confused and even _more_ stubborn in her drunken haze as she visually debates whether or not to move on and let my apparently stupid comment go. Luckily for me, she's clearly not in the mood for a petty argument. She rolls her eyes and murmurs something about how she works hard to keep her body in check and I that I should respect that.

"Good save." Trevor chuckles as I watch Elena loop her arm through Rose's as they walk a couple of feet ahead of us.

We met Trevor and Rose on the day that we arrived in Denver five days ago. Trevor's Dad happens to own the motel that we are staying in and we got talking about an old classic muscle car parked out front that he is currently working on. We clicked instantly, and when Rose joined a couple of hours later and was introduced to Elena the two hit it off. Before I knew it we were exchanging numbers with the promise of them showing us a good time around the city and we became immediate friends since.

At first I thought it was a bad idea, they both seemed cool but after the Marcel incident I was very reluctant to spend time with any outsiders. Elena however persuaded me that we can't keep on living with only the two of us as each other's company, especially since she was already starting to drive me insane after a very long car journey to get us here from the last town we stopped over in since we left Austin.

It's been working so far and we've been having a good time. Elena was right, it's kind of refreshing to be able to interact with someone else for longer than ten minutes. Trevor and Rose bought our story about the two of us being newly graduated high school seniors from Georgia wanting to travel the country before college, with no questions asked. Obviously we are pretty careful with the amount of information that we give out, keeping personal details to an absolute minimum just to be on the safe side.

However, I am very much aware of the amount of days we have been here in Denver. I don't want to break out of our comfortable new bubble that we have created for ourselves but once we left Austin we both agreed to make a one week rule, which means we can spend seven nights max in one city or town. Judging from the sound of Elena's laughter as she walks just a small distance ahead with Rose, I know that she likes it here, which makes a nervous pit in my stomach because I don't want to take this away from her.

I know how much she misses Bonnie and Caroline, even though she'll never admit it. Over the past few days Rose has been a nice distraction from that, and I'm scared that she'll get upset when we have to leave, because we _will_ have to leave in two days.

Whether we want to or not.

"Damon!"

I look up to see that the two of them have stopped and Elena is looking at me with a pout on her face, her bottom lip sticking out ever so slightly and I immediately realize that she wants something.

"Yes?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, stopping once we close the gap.

"My feet hurt." She sulks and I look down to her heels which are ridiculous to me. I mean honestly I don't understand how girls walk around in those things never mind while under the influence.

I get the hint immediately and without a word I bend down slightly and pick her up bridal style. She giggles and wraps one of her arms around my neck before using the other one to reach down to take off her heels to hold them by the straps.

"Aw, my knight in shining armor." She grins happily before pressing a sloppy drunken kiss to my cheek.

"You are whipped, buddy!" Trevor smirks at me.

"Oh it's _cute_." Rose practically gushes and I scowl.

I am _not_ cute.

"Why don't both of you shut the hell up?" I glare at them unimpressed and they laugh amused. Elena tuts and scolds me for being rude.

"You guys want to come back to our place for a night cap?" Trevor questions as he pulls out his phone to call a cab.

I glance at Elena who nuzzles her face into my neck and I shake my head. "Nah. I think this one needs her bed."

"Mhmm." Elena mumbles against my skin tiredly and I fight the smile creeping to my lips. "We'll catch you tomorrow though, yeah?"

"You guys are walking?" Rose questions with a hint of concern to her voice. "It's a long walk back for you to carry her. Come get a cab with us."

"Nah we're good." She's right, it is a long walk and not even ten minutes ago I would have happily agreed, but to be honest I could do with the air. I kind of want some alone time with just me and Elena. I really like Rose and Trevor, but we've spent the last couple of days with them almost none stop. "We'll probably stop somewhere for some food on the way."

"Okay, if you're sure?"

"Yeah. See you guys later."

Elena mumbles a drunken goodbye and we get on our way away from the crowded streets of the bustling city before finding ourselves in a quieter part of town.

"Damon?" Elena murmurs against me and I'm surprised to hear that she hadn't fell asleep.

"Yeah baby?"

"Are we really stopping for food?" she asks with a tiny hint of hope in her voice and for some reason I burst out laughing. "What?" Elena squints her eyes at me, lifting her head up from the place it was rested against my neck and looking at me paranoid. "Why are you laughing?"

I gently put her down so she is standing. She wavers slightly and I grip her waist tightly to keep her up straight. "No reason." I push some of her hair that has fallen messily onto her face away and grin. "You look beautiful."

She pulls a face. "Are you joking? I can _feel_ the mascara stains around my eyes."

"Beautiful." I confirm with a smirk and quickly peck her nose. "I love you."

I don't know why but I just needed to say it. I needed her to hear it.

"I love you too." She presses her hand against my cheek and her thumb strokes my skin softly and for a moment I forget where we are. I forget that she's drunk and I'm myself not far off. "You know," she looks down for a moment, her dark eyes hidden away from me. "Sometimes I think about home and I miss it." I feel a pit of guilt in my stomach but then her eyes flutter back up to look into my own and then I can only think of her. "But then I look at you, and I remember that if I was home I wouldn't be with you. We wouldn't be together. I don't regret any of it, not for a second."

"Not even after what happened in Austin?" I ask quietly, because I know that she was a little pissed when I eventually told her that I left Marcel and Lisa tied up and gagged.

She shakes her head. "I told you already that I understood. You did what you did to protect us. It doesn't make it right, but I _get_ it." She presses her lips against mine in a soft kiss. She pulls away slowly and brushes a hand through my hair. "You know, Damon," her voice is quiet. "One day soon I really hope you stop looking at me with a flicker of guilt in your eye."

I blink surprised at her words, frozen still as she pulls back away from me. She suddenly beams a drunken smile and then it's like the conversation never even happened and she's back to her intoxicated bubbly self.

"Don't just stand there, I'm hungry and as my boyfriend it's your duty to feed me." She grins sweetly and I shake myself out of my trance. I swallow the lump in my throat and I push those words from the front of my mind. I quickly charge towards her before swinging her back up into my arms, her shrieks the only sound that can be heard on this dark empty street as I lift her up into my arms.

"You demand, huh?" I ask amused as she giggles in my strong grasp.

"Ahuh. Now come on, walk!" she orders me and I follow through like she knows I always would.

* * *

"So, what is it that you and Elena are running from?"

I freeze. My hand clenches forcefully around my glass and my jaw tightens. I take a deep breath and clear my throat.

"We're not running from anything." I answer, trying my hardest to sound nonchalant and confused by her question.

Rose chuckles but it's soft and light. There is no hint of accusation on her face when I sneak a glance at her from the corner of my eye. Suddenly I don't feel as on edge as I did ten seconds ago.

"Oh come on, Damon. Don't think I haven't noticed the signs." She nudges me with her elbow and I look down at the grass under my shoes. "I've seen the way you both check the newspaper every day. You tense whenever you hear a siren or see a cop, and you both have pre-paid phones. I mean, who even uses top up cards anymore?"

I stay silent with an exit strategy already being planned in my head. I just need to stay calm and leave the second I can, find Elena, get back to the motel, pack up our things, get in the car and go.

"Look you don't have to worry about us," Rose replies lightly. "I like you, and I like your girl too. She's a cool chick and Trevor and I don't really make a lot of friends easily. I'll keep your secret."

"You don't know my secret to keep." I reply pointedly and she smirks.

"But I know there is one," she smirks right back. I shake my head and feel my lips tug into a smile despite my inner protests. "So," she continues like this is just a normal conversation to have. "Who is it that's running? You or Elena?"

I stay silent for another moment or two because this is getting far too personal and I should already be on my way back to the motel to pack by now. Something stops me though, and deep down I know in my gut that I can trust Rose.

"Me."

Rose nods silently and I take a large gulp from my drink.

"Elena must really love you." She speaks after a few more moments of silence and I don't reply. That feeling of guilt still rests in the pit of my stomach whenever I realize just what Elena has given up to be with me. "I mean, it's obvious to anyone with eyes how much she loves you, but she must _really_ love you."

"I don't deserve her." I murmur quietly, the words leaving my mouth before I even realize what I'm saying.

I'm going to blame it on the whiskey.

"I don't believe that." Rose replies without hesitation.

"It's the truth." I squint my eyes even though the sun has long set. "I mean you've met her, you know how amazing she is. I'm…I've done some bad things, things that I'm not proud of. She's too good for me."

Rose stays quiet and I finish the rest of my drink, turning to leave before I feel her hand reach out and grab my arm to pull me back.

"You know, Trevor had a crush on me since middle school." She says with a somewhat distant tone to her voice. I stay silent as she moves and takes a seat on the steps at the top of the porch and I feel compelled to follow, taking a seat beside her. "We've known each other for what feels like forever, we've always been somewhat close as friends. I found out in my sophomore year of high school that he had a crush on me, and do you know what I did?" she shakes her head with a somewhat bitter smile on her face. "I _laughed_ at him." I blink surprised. "I mean, it was _Trevor_, I never saw him in _that_ way and I found it completely bizarre that he would feel that way about _me_. So I did what I always do and I pushed him away."

I wonder why she is telling me this but for some reason I feel compelled to listen.

"In my junior year my Mom got diagnosed with cancer, it really hit me hard. Trevor tried his best, God bless him he did, but he couldn't help me. I pushed him away and I shut him out. I didn't think I needed him, I didn't think I needed anyone. Then my Mom died, and again he tried to help but again I treated him like crap. I pretty much told him to go to hell. I lost myself in drink, drugs and sex. I had so many one night stands I'm ashamed to say I lost count. This went on for a while and before I knew it I was a high school dropout who didn't even make it to gradation."

I scoff inwardly because I know _that_ feeling.

"So then what changed?" I ask curiously, because from as far as I can see Rose loves Trevor just as much as he clearly loves her.

"I got over myself. I snapped out of the state of me feeling like I was a failure, and that I wasn't good enough. I believe that we accept the love that we think we deserve, and I believed that I didn't deserve Trevor because he was always so much better than me. He was just _good_, you know? And I wasn't. Even now, there is still a small part of me that is nagging in the back of my mind that I'm not good enough for him."

Again, I _know_ that feeling.

"Elena's Dad's a cop." I confess and I smile when Rose literally laughs out loud.

"_Seriously_?"

"Yup. As you can imagine he _hates _me."

She chuckles and shakes her head in disbelief. "I _can_ imagine."

"Hell, it wasn't even that long ago when Elena hated me. Funny how quickly things can change, huh?"

"I know. Just one year ago I was unemployed, broke, and single. Now I have a steady job that I actually kind of enjoy, I've got my own place _and_ I have Trevor. Whatever you're running from, literally and _in there_," she taps the side of my head playfully. "It _will_ get better." She tells me firmly but with a sweet smile.

I return it and look back down at my shoes because somehow, even the optimist in me doubts that.

Deep down I know that _this_, right now, is as good as it's going to get.

Nobody can run forever.

* * *

"There you are!" I find Damon stood alone outside of the house party Rose and Trevor brought us to. "I've been looking for you everywhere." I approach him, watching as he turns around and greets me with a smile.

"Hey," he holds out his arm for me to fall into and I sigh contently the second I am wrapped up in his arms. "I was just about to come looking for you."

"No need." I look over my shoulder to the front door that is hiding the growing party of drunken teens going on behind there, hidden away from the world. I turn back to Damon. "Um…I think we should go."

I feel him tense and he looks at me with a frown on his face. "Did Rose say something to you?"

"Rose?" I ask confused, unsure of the tense look on his face. "No…why?"

He relaxes slightly and shifts his gaze away from me. "No reason."

"Damon?"

"It's fine." He looks back at me, his smile seemingly genuine before his expression changes to being puzzled. "Wait, why do you want to leave?"

"Ah…" I try to fight off the smile that is growing on my lips. "You'll either be really mad or really proud when I tell you. I am hoping it is the latter, because I worked hard to pull this off! I just may have used some tactics that you may or may not have found appropriate." I offer hesitantly.

Damon looks at me in a mixture of intrigue and wariness.

"Okay?"

I think back to just twenty minutes ago when a drunken asshole would not get the hint that I wasn't interested in him. He wouldn't stop hitting on me. Damon was nowhere to be seen, neither were Rose or Trevor and I was left alone to fend off this idiot all by myself. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a total dick, I didn't feel like I was in any danger or anything like that but he was just a drunken douchebag who thought he was God's gift to women.

Obviously he hadn't met my boyfriend.

"So this guy was hitting on me…" I begin the story and Damon immediately cuts me off.

"What? What guy?" his eyebrows crease together and he immediately tenses and stands up straight. I roll my eyes at his overprotective behavior.

"It doesn't matter," I press my hands on his chest. "Will you let me tell you?" he unclenches his jaw and nods his head, motioning for me to continue. "Okay, so this guy was hitting on me and he wouldn't take the hint that I wasn't interested-"

"What do you mean he wouldn't take the hint?" he cuts me off, _again_.

"Damon!" I groan in frustration. "Please. I promise nothing bad happened, look at me I'm standing right here with you!"

He stays silent and I take this as my cue to continue, hoping that he doesn't interrupt me yet again because he hears the start of something that he may not like.

"So like I said, the guy wouldn't take the hint even though I told him over and over again that I had a boyfriend and that I didn't like him. I couldn't find you and I didn't want to leave where Rose had left me in case she came back, so I started to humour him. Mostly for my own amusement, because he was a bit of a sleaze, but he was also _really_ drunk. That's when I noticed the clothes he was wearing." Damon's eyebrows immediately rise at that, his expression full of questions and I practically see him bite his tongue to stop him from speaking. "So I don't know a lot about fashion, but I know enough from being friends with Caroline to know what designer clothing looks like, and trust me, the clothes he was wearing were _expensive_." The next part of the story I decide to make as simple as possible, as I'm sure Damon will see it as the worst part. "Long story short, I flirted a little, battered by eyelids, you know the stuff." He does not look happy.

But now I can bring out the grand finale.

"While he was distracted and looking at my boobs, I managed to snag _this_." I grin happily while slipping my hand into the back pocket of my jeans and pulling out a flashy shiny _expensive_ gold Rolex watch.

Damon's eyes widen immediately. He takes the watch from me, eyeing it up between his fingers.

"Elena!" he looks back up at me with wide eyes. His voice is sounding the perfect combination of shock, excitement and worry.

"Which is why I think we should leave." I finish and shrug my shoulders with a sweet innocent smile.

Damon stares at me in disbelief. "You…you are something else." He shakes his head in wonder and I grin happily to see that he's not mad.

"Happy?"

"Happy? I don't know…I mean…a normal guy should not be happy that his girlfriend just stole for him but…this is not exactly a normal situation and I'm not exactly a normal guy so…"

He lets out a laugh and shakes his head.

"How much do you think its worth?" I ask almost impatiently, an odd giddy feeling running through my bones.

Damon studies it for a moment before looking back at me with shining eyes. "A _lot_. At least enough to pawn for some cash to last us a good short while with the luxury of eating and sleeping well."

I smile happily because that's all I want. We were quickly running out of the money Damon had left over from working for Marcel. I didn't want to go back to sleeping in the car and skipping meals. The new car that we got after ditching the truck in Texas is a lot smaller and cramped, and luckily we've only slept in it a couple of times when we were travelling between places so the idea of a crammed motel is suddenly a lot more appealing.

I look over my shoulder to the house party that is going on inside and suddenly a feeling of dread takes over me. It comes out of nowhere and hits me unexpectedly but it's there nonetheless.

I don't want to leave.

I don't mean this house party, but _here_, in Denver. This is the first place since we left Mystic Falls where I have felt truly comfortable. This is the first time in over two months where I have been able to feel safe in the company of someone who wasn't Damon. Rose and I clicked straight away, and I know that it was the same for Damon too. The thought of leaving all of this behind to go back on the road to the unknown, to the fear of going to a new town or city and maybe meeting new people who may or may not recognize us is a daunting thought.

I don't want to start anew all over again but deep down I know that we don't have a choice.

I gulp and look back at Damon who is looking at me with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?"

I shake my head and push back my fears. "Nothing."

"Elena." He doesn't buy it but I need him to.

"I should go and tell Rose that we're leaving," I move past him but he grabs onto my arm tightly and pulls me back.

"You can't."

"I'm not going to say we're leaving _town_, just that we're leaving the party, okay? Just…let me say this goodbye, even if she doesn't know it." I explain, trying to put down his worry that I might break our newfound rule.

To my surprise however, he shakes his head. "We need to leave now. No goodbyes."

"What?" I frown and look at him confused. "Why?"

"Let's go, Elena." He tugs on my arm but I immediately snatch it from his grasp.

"Damon, I'm not going to give anything away! I just want to say goodbye to Rose. It's the least she deserves after how much she has helped us these past few days. We were complete strangers to her but she treated us like we were her friends and I really needed that. We _are_ her friends."

"Elena, for our own good I can't let you go back in there."

"Why not?!" I snap at him impatiently, starting to get sick of his cryptic replies.

He steps back towards me, placing his hands on my arms. "Rose knows, okay?"

I freeze. My heart stops and this feels like Austin all over again, except this time it's worse because I _actually_ care about what Rose thinks about us.

"What?" I breathe out.

"She doesn't know the ins and outs of it, but she knows that we're running." He explains tensely. "She seemed to be cool with it but we can't rely on that fact. We need to leave quietly. We can't let something like what happened with Marcel happen again here, not only do I not want to put us both through that again but it's too damn risky. Mistakes like this can lead to us getting caught and I don't want to take that risk. Not this time. So please, Elena, let's just calmly go back to the motel, pack up our things and _leave_."

I stare at him for a moment because I still can't believe that Rose knows. I thought we were being discreet. I thought we were doing well here.

I nod my head silently and I see Damon's body sink in relief. He presses a soft kiss to my forehead before grabbing my hand and leading us towards our parked car.

Luckily he trusts me to drive this one. Since I haven't been drinking, still feeling the after effects from my over excessive consumption the night before, I take the wheel. I turn the keys in the ignition and glance briefly back towards the house before shaking my head and pulling away.

The drive back to the motel is quiet and we walk back into our familiar room and pack up our bags. Damon leaves a quick thank you note to Trevor and Rose before locking up the door and putting our bags in the trunk.

I sigh and pull out from the parking lot, glancing in the mirror as the motel fades in the distance. My phone pulls me away from my thoughts and I see as it rests on the dashboard that it's a text from Rose.

Something sinks in my stomach and I blink back the fighting tears. I knew this was going to happen, and it seems so ridiculous because we haven't even known each other for a week. Yet it still feels like I'm leaving my friends all over again.

I glance at Damon who also notices the text and I don't need to say anything. He reaches forward, picks up my phone and turns it off before throwing it out of the window as I speed along the empty country road. His own cell phone follows shortly after and that is Denver _done_.

Damon soon falls asleep in the passenger seat not long after. The effects of the alcohol that he has consumed tonight allows him to fall into a deep slumber for once and I'm left alone to my own thoughts.

I should have known not to get too close. I knew we'd have to leave. I knew the one week rule, and yet I can't ignore the growing pit in my stomach that grows bigger and bigger as I drive along the dark open road.

It's then that I realize that we're truly alone in this. No matter where we go or who we meet, we're alone.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it, even if it was a bit of a filler chapter. Thanks for reading, and a big massive thank you again to those of you who took the time out to write a review! :) **

**Someone asked me in a review if Enzo would appear in this story. The answer is yes, he is going to feature but not for a little while yet. In fact, Enzo's appearance is going to be a bit of a major game changer for the story and DE's relationship, so keep an eye out for him.**

**Thanks again guys! Until next time! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Gravity**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from The Vampire Diaries.**

**Big big thank you to you Mara for being my beta! I appreciate you taking the time to look at this chapter, I know you're super busy!**

**There is another Klaus POV section in this chapter as well.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**July 11th 2013**

**Thursday 1:55pm**

**Unknown, Nevada**

"You are so infuriating!" Elena slams the car door shut extra hard.

"Oh I'm sorry, have you been driving none stop for the last 5 hours?!" I jump out after he and slam my door just as hard.

"I told you to take the next turn off, but no! You think you always know best and go your own way just like always!" she throws her arms up in frustration. "Now we're lost!"

"We're not lost." I roll my eyes at her.

"We're not lost? Where are we then?" She waits while I stay silent. I scowl because she knows I don't have the answer. "Exactly!"

"Yeah that's right, _princess_, you just blame this all on me! I wasn't the one reading the map!"

"No but you were the one driving! And you ignored the person with the map!" She stomps her foot in frustration. "God, you are such an idiot sometimes!"

"Okay, how about instead of being a bitch, you actually try and help me figure out where the hell we are?" I reach in through the open car window and pull out the discarded map from the dashboard. I open up the large paper and lay it on the hood of the car.

Elena huffs and takes a sip from her bottled water before walking around to stand beside me to try to work out which route we are on.

"I think we're here." She presses her finger down onto the paper.

"No. We passed by that miles ago while you were enjoying one of your many naps," I snap at her in annoyance before wiping at my brow as the sun shines down onto them. God it is so freaking hot!

"I offered to drive!"

"You can barely drive a stick." I roll my eyes at her. We hit some car troubles a couple of days ago and had to trade in for another vehicle, _again_. It would have been fine if Elena could actually drive the damn thing.

"Yes I can!" she argues angrily. "You just won't let me try!"

"Because I'd actually like to try and make it to my next birthday."

"Urgh fine, if I'm apparently so useless why don't you try and work out how the hell to find civilization yourself. I'll just go sit over there!" she stomps off towards a small pile of rocks on the side of the sandy road before sitting down on top of them, pulling her sunglasses down to cover her eyes.

"Oh that's right; leave it all up to me again." I grumble in annoyance before turning my attention back onto the map. I study it for a while, trying to work out where we have passed already to where we could be, to where we actually need to go but I'm not coming up with anything.

The summer was well and truly starting to heat up. Elena suggested we just head straight towards the coast from the town we stopped over at in Idaho since leaving Denver. I agreed, the thought of seeing her in a bikini on a hot beach, crashing in the waves of the water and bathing above the sand was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

So we decided to make a nonstop road trip out of it.

It was a good idea at the time. At first it went well. We walked and joked with each other and reminisced about the places we already visited. We laughed about some of the odd people we've met and some of the shit motels we've had to stay in.

Then after the third hour the heat started to agitate us both and Elena fell asleep. She left me to stew out of boredom in my own company. Once Elena woke up, she lost her place of where we were up too on the map, and I couldn't remember which part of the map we'd already passed. This caused me to take a slip road to early, despite Elena's protests, and now we are completely lost on a deserted road and have been for an hour.

Not a sandy beach in sight.

Instead, just a sandy desert, in the middle of nowhere land Nevada.

* * *

I stand outside of the Salvatore boarding house with a strange pit in my stomach. It's been months since I've been here. I've kind of avoided them since Damon left town, with the exception of keeping updated with that is going on with the case from Stefan; I have avoided all founding family functions and any places that I know I may run into them.

Zach Salvatore surprised me with a text this morning when he asked me to meet him here. I've only seen the man twice since Damon left town. Once when I needed to find out what the hell went down that night with Vaughn, and to see if any of his connections knew someone else who would have wanted the Scotsman dead. Of course he came up with nothing. The second time was total accidental and a brief run in at The Grill. He asked me if I had heard from Damon, and even though I had by this point, for some reason I felt cautious. I said I hadn't.

Zach didn't say anything else to that.

I take a deep breath and walk inside without knocking; it's not unusual for the Salvatore's to leave the door unlocked. I mean most of the bad things that happen in this damn town are _because_ of them.

Zach is lounging on an arm chair in the parlour with a glass of whiskey clutched in his hands.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"Not going to lie, I was surprised when I saw your text." I fold my arms across my chest. I'm standing at the edge of the parlour and don't move any farther. There is something that feels off about being here now.

Zach chuckles to himself and sits up straight, leaning forward and placing his now empty glass onto the wooden table in front of him.

"Do you or do you not work for me?" he asks with a hint of amusement in his voice.

I frown. "I don't work for anyone."

"No? So what do you do then? Sponge off Mommy and Daddy?"

I clench my jaw. "No."

"Well then," he clasps his hands together before standing up. A smirk is on his lips and I watch him as he crosses the room towards some cabinet by the wall. He pulls out a key from his pocket and unlocks a drawer, pulling out a medium sized packet that has been taped up and tossing it over at me.

I catch it against my chest and look up at him confused. "What's this?"

"You remember Will, right? The scrawny college drop out with an addiction problem?"

"Yeah." I answer stiffly. "I know him. I haven't seen him in a while."

"Doesn't matter. Take that to him and I'll make sure to pay you kindly." He relocks the drawer and there is something in his voice that makes me feel like I don't have a choice in the matter. I sigh, shake my head and leave without another word.

I suppose I could do with the cash. I just would rather not do it by mixing in with that crowd again. They all think I was involved in Vaughn's death, so I'm not very popular over in that town.

The drive is a long one because of traffic and I let out many frustrated mutters to myself. What I would give to be on a beach in the Caribbean right now.

Will's windows are still boarded up because of the fire months ago when I arrive. It would surprise me if I hadn't met the kid. Everyone knows where his money goes and it sure isn't to his local hardware store.

I knock twice before he answers and when he does there is a joint hanging from his lips as he leans in the doorway.

"British guy." He eyes me up and down slowly. "What brings you here?" his voice slurs a little and I roll my eyes before I push him backwards. I close his door behind him. "Please, come on in!" he mutters, inhaling from his joint and pulling it from his lips. "Want some?"

"Not today, Will." I answer, looking around the messy house.

"So? What can I do for you? You need to buy? Sell? I'm open to all kinds of business." He holds out his arms with a smirk. I stay silent, noticing that this place is even messier than usual. There's rubbish all over the place, empty pizza boxes and bottles.

It's a pigsty.

"Not going to lie. A little surprised to see you here. You kinda fell off the radar after the whole Vaughn versus Damon fiasco." He chuckles, and his glazed eyes light up. "Your buddy did everyone a favor when he bumped off that asshole."

I don't even bother to protest for Damon's innocence. There would be no point.

"Could have fooled me."

I remember back to a couple of weeks after the incident and I was at a party. One of Vaughn's old guys approached me and threatened me that he'd rip my eye balls out if he saw me again.

I didn't take that as a light threat.

Will waves his hand in the air casually. "That's probably just Connor's leftover influence. I wouldn't worry about it, Vaughn's influence is long gone these days, and not even Connor Jordan is as threatening anymore." He picks up a beer bottle that has been left on the table and takes a swig, turning back around to face. "So? What can I do for you, buddy?"

"Zach Salvatore." I say his name, not missing the way Will tenses.

"Zach sent you?" he questions slowly, his face paling ever so slightly.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Nope." Will takes another large chug from his beer.

I let it go and pull out the package from the inside of my jacket. I toss it down onto the table beside us without a word.

"For you."

Will eyes it for a second and looks back at me curiously. "So you work for Zach now?"

I shrug.

Will stares at me for a moment longer before he nods his head and picks up the package. "Thanks. You can go now."

I frown at his immediate change of attitude take a step back. "Whatever man." I turn to leave. "I'd get a vacuum out or something though because this place is rotten." I don't wait for his reply and leave, closing the front door behind me.

I make it two steps along the path back towards my car before I freeze.

Detective Grayson Gilbert is smirking at me as he leans against my car casually with his arms crossed.

"Are you following me?" I say.

"What makes you think that?"

"We aren't in Mystic Falls, so this isn't your derestriction, for one. You also happen to be leaning against my car. So if you don't mind…"

He chuckles but it's fake. I stand still as he pushes himself up. "Maybe I was just in the neighborhood. What are _you_ doing here?"

"I don't have to answer anything to you." I snap. "In case you had forgotten, I'd warned you about staying away from me. Do you want me to get a restraining order against you?"

Grayson laughs again. "Sure kid, good luck with that one."

I glare at him in anger. "Whatever. I don't have time for this." I go to move past him to the car door but he grabs my arm and pulls me back. I snatch my arm from his grasp and take a deep breath to try and control my anger.

"This is harassment." I hiss out between gritted teeth.

"I don't think you realize that I'm going to stop at nothing until I find Damon and Elena." His voice is firm, cold and hard.

"I don't think you realize that I _don't_ know where they are." I clench my jaw. You're wasting your time. In fact, the longer you spend harassing me, the less chance you have of ever catching Damon."

He gives me a cold smile. "I don't doubt for a second Damon will get caught. He'll end up exactly where he belongs soon enough, son. Nobody can run forever. He's not a criminal mastermind and my daughter sure as hell isn't one either. It's only a matter of time before he's locked up and she's home safe where she belongs."

"Elena is _exactly_ where she belongs, with Damon." I reply much to his irritation. "The funny thing is, Detective, if you actually were doing your job properly you would know Damon was innocent. You wouldn't have to find your daughter. She'd be back home in Mystic Falls, safe and sound."

He laughs but again it's cold and hard. "If he was so innocent, as you continue to believe, then why did he run?" For a moment I don't have an answer. "That's what I thought." He smirks and starts to walk back in the direction of his car.

I swing back around in annoyance and call back to him. "You want Elena back in Mystic Falls? Do. Your. Job!" I snarl then get in my car and slam the door shut.

* * *

I grunt in frustration and blow out some air out of my lips onto my face because it is so damn hot. I pull off my baseball cap and push back some of my fallen damp hair from my eyes, reminding myself that the next town we drive through I'll need to stop to get a haircut.

I glance back at Elena. She's sitting with her back to me on a giant rock. Her arms are resting on her bare legs in front of her and I can see her kicking smaller rocks with her sandal clad feet.

"You want some water?" I call out to her. She doesn't reply and I roll my eyes at her immaturity before popping open the trunk and pulling out a chilled bottle from our cooler. The cold liquid feels amazing falling down my throat. I smirk when I notice the sweat dripping down Elena's arms from her white tank top. It's already starting to stick to her back.

I take advantage of her back facing me when I approach her slowly. Once I get beside her, I pull on her tank top and pour a load of water down her back.

She gives a loud shriek. I laugh when she jumps to her feet and whirls towards me.

Her eyes are on fire.

I love it.

She's flustered, and she spits out words that don't even make sense before she lets out a loud groan and finds her proper voice.

"What the hell, Damon?! Why would you do that?" Her eyes are wide in a mixture of anger and disbelief.

I shrug. "You looked hot." I wiggle my eyebrows at the double meaning but Elena does not play along.

"You are such an asshole! I'm soaked!" she hisses at me furiously, pulling at her now soaked tank top and I smirk. She catches my look and her eyes darken even more. "No!" she snaps, holding out her hand. "Don't even say a word!"

I hold my hands up in defense. "I wasn't going to say anything, princess."

She huffs and moves past me, her shoulder shoving against mine as she does so. I watch amused as she dives into the already open trunk and opens up her old cheerleading duffle bag.

She pulls out numerous of shirts and tanks before settling on one. She glares at me and slams the trunk down hard. I have to hide my cringe as the old car rattles because of it.

I swallow hard when she rips open her tank top over her head. She doesn't seem to care we're out in the open. Then again, it's been over an hour since we saw any kind of civilization around here. Her breasts are on show, filling her lacy lilac bra perfectly. I'm quiet as I watch her throw her wet tank top back into the trunk. She picks up a new one but before I even think I reach out my hand and stop her.

She looks up at me, questioning, but it doesn't take her long to figure it out.

I'm sure the look on my face is giving me away, that or the growing bulge in my pants.

Her lips crash against mine hard and fast and before I know it her legs are wrapped around my waist. I swallow her breaths as I kiss her hungrily, my arms locked under her thighs as one of her hands claws through my hair while the other is wrapped around my neck.

Elena pulls back for a second, breathless, her already dark eyes black and her mouth hovering open. I walk two small steps forward and gently lower her down onto the trunk, my hands leaving her thighs briefly to land on her bare hips as her long legs wrap tightly around my waist.

The tiniest of smirks lands on her lips and suddenly she is clawing at my t-shirt and it's being pulled over my head and thrown onto the hot concrete road behind me.

Her mouth is back on mine. Our kisses are rushed and frantic and all I know is that I need to be inside of her and soon.

"Mm, Damon." She gasps out in a whimper as I move my lips to her neck, sucking and nibbling onto her soft skin.

I unzip her tiny denim shorts and move out of her grasp to pull them down her legs, throwing them in the same direction of my shirt before kissing her again hungrily.

I just know that Elena is completely caught up in the moment, or else she'd be far more worried about her almost naked state in such an open place for anyone to see. So when she tugs down my pants, and her hand slides into my underwear to grab my already hard erection I know that she's a goner when she pushes down my briefs.

So I don't disappoint. I grunt against her skin, dragging my mouth back from her lips to her neck and push aside her panties and thrust in side of her without warning.

"Oh god, Damon." She gasps out in breaths as I move faster. My hips slam against hers while her legs tighten around my waist and I can feel her walls clenching around me.

"Jesus, Elena." I grunt against her skin as her fingers claw against my scalp. I can't stop myself then, and I cum right inside of her. She follows soon after and we both collapse onto each other breathlessly. "Wow." I pull away from her, stepping back and catching my jeans as they almost fall down to my ankles.

Elena stays where she is on the trunk of the car. Her sweat cladded chest rising and falling as she tries to catch her breath.

"Good, huh?" I look at her without being able to hide my wide smile.

She blinks and pulls out of her trance. Her lips twitch while trying to fight a smile. Her eyes are bright and her cheeks are glowing.

"You're still a jerk."

I laugh loudly and toss her the shirt.

* * *

"Damon! _Stop_." My hand lands on top of his tightly to stop it from sliding any higher up my bare thigh. I swallow and can feel my cheeks heating up as the waitress approaches us with a big fake smile. I didn't miss the way her eyes darted downwards to where my boyfriend's wandering hand is still lingering.

Damon chuckles and playfully bites my ear before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asks with an almost embarrassed smile.

After another three hours of driving in a straight aimless line, trying to find some sort of civilization so we can get a just too where we are, we come across a tiny little town. I say town, I mean a place that has about four buildings in total on their main street. Since it was coming up towards the dinner time, we stopped off in this tiny local diner for some food and directions to the nearest motel. Apparently we are heading towards the south of Nevada and there is a motel just a few miles away so we decided to stop there tonight after we eat.

"Yes." I stress, sending a warning glance in Damon's direction who smirks amused, his hand moving to a more appropriate spot just above my knee. "We're ready, thank you." I nudge him with my elbow and Damon reads off what we want from the menu smoothly. The waitress writes it all down and I notice the tiny blush creeping on her cheeks. I don't even bother rolling my eyes. I'm starting to get used to the reaction that Damon gives the opposite sex; hell, sometimes the _same_ sex too.

"She was checking you out." I tell him as the waitress walks away.

Damon smirks and raises his eyebrows. "Oh was she?" he asks even though we both know fine well that he noticed. "Do you think I should go over? Use your technique of flirtation to steal her watch?" he wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I send him a playful shut. "Shut up! You weren't complaining when you were pawning that watch off for a handful of cash."

"That is true." He muses. "Maybe I should pimp you out more often?"

"Right." I agree with a nod, "and then I can give you all the STDs that I'll catch? Call it an early birthday present."

He laughs and my stomach flutters. He moves his arm from my leg to wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. He twists slightly so our bodies are practically flushed together before pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

"You know what would be a pretty awesome birthday present?" he asks in a deep tone, his eyes fluttering open as his lips lightly brush against my own.

"What's that?" I breathe out, barely in a whisper. I'm so wrapped up in him, his intense blue eyes boring into mine that I forget the world around us. I gasp, shuddering as his other hand slides down my side, grazing my breasts before edging down my stomach to my crotch. His fingers lightly play over the material of my shorts and I do my best to hold in a whimper he twists his hands to cup me for the briefest of seconds.

Damon smirks, his fingers tapping against my pubic bone. "Getting my name tattooed right _here_." His smirk widens and I gasp, pull away and punch him hard on the shoulder.

"Pig!"

He laughs loudly and I shake my head in disbelief, blowing out a breath to cool my heated face. I can feel the blush on my cheeks.

"What?" he asks innocently but I see the naughtiness in his eyes. In his smile. "It's a perfectly reasonable request. 'Property of Damon Salvatore' in nice bold letters. What's the big deal? No one else is ever going to see it but me anyway." He points out with a smirk and I push away the butterflies in my stomach from another meaning to that statement because now is not the time.

So I roll my eyes. "What about when I wear a bikini?"

"Then all the guys ogling at your hot body will know that it belongs to me." He says like it's a perfectly normal thing to say.

"Right, you own me." I reply sarcastically while trying to fight off my smile.

"Hell yes I own you." He winks.

"Who knew I was dating a chauvinist pig?"

"Um you did, actually." He points out. "I'm pretty sure you called me that many times during the summer of your life."

"The summer of my life?" I ask with a laugh because even though I look back at our antics now with a happy flutter in my stomach, it certainly wasn't the case at the time.

"Yup. I mean, I rocked your world. I gave you the best sex you ever had. How could that not have been the summer of your life?"

"Cocky much?"

He smirks and presses his mouth against mine before I even finish taking a breath. My hand instantly lands on his cheek, the other sliding through his hair. I moan against his mouth as his tongue slides against mine. His kiss his hot and open and again I completely forget where we are.

He pulls back slightly and bites on my bottom lip. My eyes flutter open and I look at him in a mixture of lust and amazement.

"What is with you today?" I ask breathlessly, my head leaning forward against his own as I press my lips against his briefly.

"What do you mean?" he asks while pulling a face but I know better.

"You _know_ what I mean. You've been in a playful mood all afternoon."

"Maybe I'm just excited to finally see you in a bikini?" he offers while wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "Because that is something I have fantasized about many times."

"You've seen me naked; you don't need to fantasize about me."

"Oh please." He scoffs light heartedly. "I _always_ fantasize about you, whether I have the real thing or not. You're beautiful." He whispers against my lips and kisses me again.

"You see," I pull away after a few moments. "This is what I mean." I tell him pointedly. "What are you after?" I squint suspiciously.

"Nothing!" he defends himself with a smile. "Why do you find it so hard to believe that I just want to shower my beautiful girlfriend with compliments all day?"

"Are you grateful that I gave you outdoor sex earlier? Because I told you that was a one off!" I'm still embarrassed just thinking about it, the thought of someone driving past and seeing us is enough to heat up my entire face. Luckily that didn't happen, but I am very much aware that it could have.

He chuckles softly. "I _am_ grateful but that isn't the reason."

"Then what is?"

"There is no reason." He answers simply. "I just love you, a _lot_. So I want you to feel like the most loved and adored girl on the planet, because you are."

There are moments in your life that you just know that you will remember forever. No matter how small and uneventful it may seem, deep down, in your gut, you just know it.

This is one of those moments.

I kiss him. I mean, what else can I do when he says something like that to me?

"Oh um…"

I pull away at the outside voice that is intruding on our moment and turn around to see the waitress holding a tray with our food. A blush that probably matches my own on her cheeks.

Damon chuckles as she awkwardly places our plates on the table before scurrying away.

"I think we're embarrassing the locals." He muses with a cocky smirk. I laugh and agree, reaching over to his plate and grabbing a handful of chilli fries that I made him order even though I insisted that I didn't want any for myself.

He swats my hand away playfully but then pushes his plate back towards me with a smile so I can easily take the fries.

I shove some into my mouth and my eyes close at the taste. "Damn those are good."

Damon chuckles and agrees.

"I love you too, by the way." I nudge him playfully and he grins happily.

"Good." He moves his hand underneath my top and his fingers dance soothingly along my skin. "So…I have an idea."

"What's that?" I ask curiously as I continue to eat.

"Want to make another pit stop before we head towards the beach?"

"I thought you didn't want to stop?" I ask confused because he wasn't exactly pleased about stopping in a motel tonight but I refuse to let him drive over the night without sleep.

"I didn't but that was before I knew where we are," he tells me with a smirk and I swear his eyes light up with excitement.

"Okay…" I trail with a nervous smile. "Where do you want to go?"

His smirk widens. His eyes glistening and my heart starts to pound with excitement as the next word leaves his mouth.

"Vegas."

* * *

**So, next stop Las Vegas!**

**Hope you all liked the chapter, please drop a review and let me know what you all thought :)**

**Big big thank you as per to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I don't think I got a chance to respond personally to everyone but I thought you'd be happier with a new chapter instead.**

**Thank you lots for reading!**

**Until next time :) **


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